'One of the greatest mountaineering survival stories never told.' - The Sunday Times Some mountains are high; some mountains are hard. Few are both. On the afternoon of 13 July 1977, having become the first climbers to reach the summit of the Ogre, Doug Scott and Chris Bonington began their long descent. In the minutes that followed, any feeling of success from their achievement would be overwhelmed by the start of a desperate fight for survival. And things would only get worse. Rising to over 7,000 metres in the centre of the Karakoram, the Ogre - Baintha Brakk - is notorious in mountaineering circles as one of the most difficult mountains to climb. First summited by Scott and Bonington in 1977 - on expedition with Paul 'Tut' Braithwaite, Nick Estcourt, Clive Rowland and Mo Anthoine - it waited almost twenty-four years for a second ascent, and a further eleven years for a third. The Ogre, by legendary mountaineer Doug Scott, is a two-part biography of this enigmatic peak: in the first part, Scott has painstakingly researched the geography and history of the mountain; part two is the long overdue and very personal account of his and Bonington's first ascent and their dramatic week-long descent on which Scott suffered two broken legs and Bonington smashed ribs. Using newly discovered diaries, letters and audio tapes, it tells of the heroic and selfless roles played by Clive Rowland and Mo Anthoine. When the desperate climbers finally made it back to base camp, they were to find it abandoned - and themselves still a long way from safety. The Ogre is undoubtedly one of the greatest adventure stories of all time.

'I have given my whole life to the mountains. Born at the foot of the Alps, I have been a ski champion, a professional guide, an amateur of the greatest climbs in the Alps and a member of eight expeditions to the Andes and the Himalaya. If the word has any meaning at all, I am a mountaineer.' So Lionel Terray begins Conquistadors of the Useless - not with arrogance, but with typical commitment. One of the most colourful characters of the mountaineering world, his writing is true to his uncompromising and jubilant love for the mountains. Terray was one of the greatest alpinists of his time, and his autobiography is one of the finest and most important mountaineering books ever written. Climbing with legends Gaston Rebuffat, Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, Terray made first ascents in the Alps, Alaska, the Andes and the Himalaya. He was at the centre of global mountaineering at a time when Europe was emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and he came out a hero. Conquistadors of the Useless tells of his wartime escapades, of life as an Alpine mountain guide, and of his climbs - including the second ascent of the Eiger North Face and his involvement in the first ever ascent of an 8,000-metre peak, Annapurna. His tales capture the energy of French post-war optimism, a time when France needed to reassert herself and when climbing triumphs were more valued than at any other time in history. Terray's death, in the Vercors, robbed mountaineering of one of its most passionate and far-sighted figures. His energy, so obvious in Conquistadors of the Useless, will inspire for generations to come. A mountaineering classic.

An admirer of Captain Cook, Otto von Kotzebue (1787-1846) was a leading navigator, in Russian service, circumnavigating the globe three times. His 1815 expedition set out to find a passage through the Arctic, study the coastlines of Kamchatka and Alaska, and explore the Pacific. Among the personnel were the naturalist Chamisso and the artist Choris, who both contributed valuable information to the published account, while Eschscholtz, a physician, collected zoological specimens. Originally published in 1821 in Russian and German, this English translation, presented with many plates and charts, appeared the same year and formed part of Darwin's library aboard the Beagle. Volume 2 contains the concluding part of the journal, together with contributions by the other members of the expedition. Chamisso's chapters on the Pacific languages are still of interest today, with his glossaries including words not given in any other contemporary sources.

An admirer of Captain Cook, Otto von Kotzebue (1787-1846) was a leading navigator, in Russian service, circumnavigating the globe three times. His 1815 expedition set out to find a passage through the Arctic, study the coastlines of Kamchatka and Alaska, and explore the Pacific. Among the personnel were the naturalist Chamisso and the artist Choris, who both contributed valuable information to the published account, while Eschscholtz, a physician, collected zoological specimens. Originally published in 1821 in Russian and German, this English translation, presented with many plates and charts, appeared the same year and formed part of Darwin's library aboard the Beagle. Volume 3 continues with Chamisso's detailed observations as well as contributions by other members of the expedition. Flora and fauna are identified, mineral samples taken, and aerometric readings recorded along with the temperature of the sea.

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton CVO OBE, was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. His first experience of the polar regions was as third officer on Captain Scott s Discovery Expedition, 1901 04, from which he was sent home early on health grounds. Determined to make amends for this perceived personal failure, he returned to Antarctica in 1907 as leader of the Nimrod Expedition. In January 1909 he and three companions made a southern march which established a record Farthest South latitude at 88 23'S, 97 geographical miles (114 statute miles, 190 km) from the South Pole, by far the closest convergence in exploration history up to that time. For this achievement, Shackleton was knighted by King Edward VII on his return home. This edition covers Shackleton s final, and most dramatic Antarctic expedition.

"An extraordinary tale of derring-do told in a mesmerising new book via fascinating archive pictures - and worthy of a Hollywood movie too." - Daily Mail In the late 19th century, the Norwegian Artic explorer Fridtjof Nansen undertook a pioneering expedition: he wanted to reach the North Pole with the specially designed ship Fram. The Nansen Photographs recounts this expedition, from the launch in 1890 through to the end of Nansen's international lecture tour in 1897, using original photographs alongside personal diary entries from Nansen and seven of his crew members. Together, they illustrate in a poignant and sometimes disconcerting way how the expedition members went about their daily lives and conducted their research, the conflicts they faced, and how they ultimately brought their daring undertaking to its successful conclusion. This book brings new life to previously known facts and introduces the reader to hundreds of previously unknown photographs from the expedition. The large format of the book brings the smaller details in the photographs to the forefront, providing new insight into the work and life on board, the equipment and the clothing. Opposing diary entries from Nansen and the men about the same situations show that life on board was not always easy and tell a gripping story of survival and the human condition. Nansen's lack of empathy and practical skills caused frustration among the men, and several of them resorted to fists to sort out their differences, but nonetheless they all pulled through and set a new standard for arctic expeditions to come. When Nansen leaves the ship for his legendary 18 month journey with Hjalmar Johansen towards the North Pole, we follow both Nansen and Johansen and the crew left on board through their photographs and diaries. The return to Norway and the spectacular celebration is told in detail through photographs, newspaper reports, speeches, menus and ephemera. This stunning 712-page book comes with an illustrated dustjacket and contains 850 photographs and illustrations, 35 ship drawings and 25 maps.

Z. A. Mudge (1813 88) was an American pastor, author and Arctic exploration enthusiast. After the success of his popular books North Pole Voyages and Arctic Heroes, he wrote this book on the Western Union Telegraph Expedition. In the mid-nineteenth century the Western Union Telegraph Company decided to create a telegraph line that would run from San Francisco, California to Moscow, Russia. The line was to run through Alaska and Siberia, and although the project was abandoned in 1867, a large amount of Arctic exploration had been achieved in the meantime. This book, first published in 1880, is Mudge's compilation of the accounts of some of the explorers who were involved in different stages of the expedition, including the naturalist W. H. Dall during his exploration in Alaska. Mudge goes on to include the Siberian experiences of George Kennan and W. H. Bush (whose own account is also reissued in this series).

William Fitzwilliam Owen (1774-1857) was a British naval officer. Between 1821 and 1826 he commanded an expedition to Africa, Arabia and Madagascar with the Royal Navy ships Leven and Barracouta, during which he mapped some 30,000 miles of coastline. His memoirs of the voyage are presented in this two-volume account, first published in 1833. Volume 2 continues to describe the rituals of the native peoples whom Owen's crew encountered - and who were at times hostile - and the tragic deaths on board the ships from tropical diseases, which with better planning might have been avoided. The volume also covers the lives of colonists and missionaries, the slave trade, and the spread of European influence across Africa and its neighbouring lands. Providing a vivid account of African exploration in the nineteenth century, Owen's writings remain of great interest to geographers, historians and anthropologists.

The Russo-American Telegraph Project of 1865-7 was truly monumental. Although plans to lay cable from San Francisco to Moscow via Alaska and Siberia were superseded by the laying of the sub-Atlantic cable, one of the benefits of the enterprise was the knowledge of the area gained by those engineers and explorers sent out to assess the task. Publication of their experiences and travels followed and one such work was this journal by Richard James Bush, first published in 1871 by Harper & Brothers, describing his adventures in Siberia between 1865 and 1867. Bush makes it clear that this is not a scientific account, but a travel narrative containing observations of his time in the Kamchatka Peninsula and the area of Siberia by the Sea of Okhotsk, of herding deer and life in the tundra. The engagingly written book is illustrated with fine drawings of the region by Bush himself.

William Fitzwilliam Owen (1774-1857) was a British naval officer. Between 1821 and 1826 he commanded an expedition to Africa, Arabia and Madagascar with the Royal Navy ships Leven and Barracouta, during which he mapped some 30,000 miles of coastline. His memoirs of the voyage are presented in this two-volume account, first published in 1833. Volume 1 begins by presenting Owen's instructions from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and the Hydrographical Office, on which the editor comments that Owen was not given the power to take account of seasonal climate changes. Through Owen's recollections we learn that this proved fatal, as many of his crew succumbed to tropical diseases. Providing a vivid account of African exploration in the nineteenth century, Owen also documents his encounters with native peoples and wildlife. His writings remain of great interest to geographers, historians and anthropologists.

Robert Scoresby-Jackson (1833-67), physician and geographer, was the grandson of Arctic explorer and whaler William Scoresby senior, and nephew to Arctic explorer, scientist, clergyman and social reformer William Scoresby junior (1789-1857). First published in 1861, this biography recounts the many years the younger Scoresby spent exploring the northern seas, and his life after his trips to the Arctic ceased. Scoresby entered the Anglican church in 1822, and went on to work in several parishes across England. The book also describes Scoresby's personal tragedies, his efforts towards social reform, and his important research on magnetism, on which he worked for much of his adult life. The appendix includes a list of his publications, the honours bestowed on him, and an extract from his will bequeathing some of his most valued instruments to the public museum at Whitby, the home port for his and his father's early whaling expeditions.

In 1829, Thomas Simpson (1808 1840), born in Dingwall, Scotland, joined the fur-trading Hudson's Bay Company. Under its auspices, he was the junior officer of a successful survey expedition along the North-West Passage, beyond the limits of Franklin's disastrous 1819 22 attempt. The Royal Geographical Society awarded Simpson their Founder's Medal; however the Company refused his request immediately to lead an expedition further east along the coast. Simpson, ambitious and furious, set out for London, hoping to secure approval there, but before he reached the Atlantic, he was shot in the head. The men who had accompanied him alleged that he went mad, and killed two of them before committing suicide. Simpson's own account of his explorations was edited by his brother, Alexander, and published in 1843 in an attempt to restore his reputation. It sheds light on Simpson's difficult character and also on the contribution of trade interests to exploration.

Written by his son, the Rev. Edward Parry, this 1857 memoir describes the life and times of Rear-Admiral Sir W. Edward Parry (1790 1855), the British naval officer and Arctic explorer. The work describes how Parry became a successful pioneer of Arctic enterprise, having in 1827 attempted one of the earliest expeditions to the North Pole, setting a record which then stood for fifty years. Reflecting the religious side of Parry's character, the book demonstrates how he was a constant promoter of the welfare of his crews. From Parry's childhood years, the book traces the explorer's distinguished career in the Navy, his meticulous scientific work and his long and usually dangerous voyages and expeditions. Alongside his professional successes, including his knighthood in 1829, the book gives insights into the difficulties of his private life, including the tragic deaths of his first wife and of some of his children.

The explorer and geologist Adolf Erik Nordenskioeld (1832-1901) led the expedition that first successfully navigated the North-East Passage and circumnavigated the Eurasian continent. This famous expedition took place in 1878-80, on the steamship Vega. However, prior to this expedition, Nordenskioeld had been on a number of voyages to the Arctic, where comprehensive scientific surveys were carried out. This book, first published in 1879, describes his previous voyages, including those to Spitzbergen and Greenland. It was compiled by Alexander Leslie using Nordenskioeld's own reports, and contains a great deal of historically valuable information. It details encounters with natives met during the voyages and contains the official report of the Medical Officer, Dr Envall, on the health, hygiene and care of the sick during the Swedish Polar Expedition 1872-3. It also includes a list of books and memoirs relating to the Swedish Arctic expeditions and biographical information about Nordenskioeld.

Educated at Sandhurst, Sir George Grey (1812 98) became Governor of South Australia when he was not yet thirty. Later he served as Governor of New Zealand and High Commissioner for South Africa, and in the 1870s he enjoyed a period as Premier of New Zealand. Although he liked to portray himself as 'good Governor Grey' some of his contemporaries found him ruthless and manipulative. Like many other Victorian administrators, he was convinced that the 'savage' natives needed to be 'raised' properly in order to become more like Europeans. In this 1841 publication, Grey writes about two expeditions to North West Australia that took place under his leadership in 1837 9. In Volume 1, he tells of the difficulties that the expedition encountered while seeking a site for settlement, including an incident when the spear of a 'coloured man' wounded him and he shot the 'wretched savage'.

The British Vice-Admiral and Arctic explorer Sir George Nares (1831-1915) received several honours for his contributions to science, including a fellowship of the Royal Society. He attended the Royal Naval School, New Cross, before joining the service in 1845. After a varied early career and the successful Challenger scientific expedition in the Atlantic, he took command of the British Arctic expedition of 1875-6 that hoped to reach the North Pole. Nares' popular two-volume account of the journey was published in 1878. Volume 1 describes the journey north, and covers the discovery of the channel later called Nares Strait, and the remarkable dog-sled expedition of second-in-command, Albert Markham, that set a new record for the farthest distance north achieved. Nares' official report of the expedition and Markham's account of the journey, The Great Frozen Sea, are also available from the Cambridge Library Collection.

When the experienced Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) was put in command of an expedition in 1845 to search for the elusive North-West Passage he had the backing of the Admiralty and was equipped with two specially-adapted ships and a three-year supply of provisions. Franklin was last seen by whalers in Baffin Bay in July 1845. When the expedition failed to return in 1848, enormous resources were mobilised to try to discover its fate. In 1852 H.M.S. 'Assistance' was sent to lead another search mission. It was captained by Edward Belcher (1799-1877), who recounts his unsuccessful adventure in this illustrated two-volume book, first published in 1855. Volume 2 covers, and attempts to justify, Belcher's much-criticised decision to abandon four ships in the pack-ice. It also contains Belcher's views on reports of cannibalism among Franklin's crew, as well as scientific observations and a fascinating list of provisions.

Swedish archbishop Uno von Troil (1746 1803) had a lifelong enthusiasm for travel and scientific study which led him to accompany the famous naturalist Sir Joseph Banks (1743 1820) on an expedition to Iceland in 1772. Banks was already well known for his role as botanist on Captain Cook's first voyage on the Endeavour, which mapped the Pacific and uncharted parts of Australia and New Zealand. This book, first published in 1780, is a compilation of letters written by von Troil, documenting the tour of Iceland. The letters describe volcanos and other geological features as well as providing meteorological information and an account of the northern lights. Through his amiable and enthusiastic correspondence, von Troil paints a picture of the Icelandic people, their national character and culture, including their diet and occupations. Also featured is an account of the religious history of Iceland and the organisation of the Icelandic church.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This 1859 volume contains three accounts of the Amazon region, all translated from the Spanish and covering the century 1539-1639: The Expedition of Gonzalo Pizarro to the Land of Cinnamon; The Voyage of Francisco de Orellana down the River of the Amazons; and the New Discovery of the Great River of the Amazons, by Cristoval de Acuna. An editorial introduction provides a context for the narratives, and an appendix lists the principal tribes of the Amazon, and the sources of this information.

In this book, first published in 1862, Edward Bean Underhill gives an engaging account of a journey to the West Indies on behalf of the Baptist Missionary Society. He visited Baptist churches in Trinidad, Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas in order to evaluate the religious state of the many congregations that were established there after the Emancipation Act. Underhill emphasizes that the religious and social consequences of the Emancipation for the people of the West Indies cannot be viewed independently of one another. He finds that the islands, on their own terms, have made the best possible use of the freedom obtained. Underhill gives an elaborate and vivid description of his impression of the islands, but his main focus is on Jamaica, which he finds has benefited most of all.

Two lectures given by the medical missionary and explorer David Livingstone after his return to England from his travels in Africa (1841-1856) form the core of this book, which was originally published in 1858, the year when Livingstone set off on the British Zambezi expedition. The book also contains a biography, a letter from Adam Sedgwick (then Professor of Geology at Cambridge), and a thorough appendix covering the scientific results of the journey, describing the geography, mineralogy, diseases, and the language and cultural aspects of the peoples Livingstone encountered. Finally, Livingstone reports on the needs and prospects for further missionary work in Africa. Although Livingstone himself felt his calling was now to pursue purely scientific exploration, he hoped that the lectures and their subsequent publication would encourage other missionaries to continue his work of evangelisation.

In 1845, British explorer Sir John Franklin set out on a voyage to find the North-West Passage - the sea route linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. The expedition was expected to complete its mission within three years and return home in triumph but the two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, and the 129 men aboard them disappeared in the Arctic. The last Europeans to see them alive were the crews of two whaling ships in Baffin Bay in July 1845, just before they entered the labyrinth of the Arctic Archipelago. The loss of this British hero and his crew, and the many rescue expeditions and searches that followed, captured the public imagination, but the mystery surrounding the expedition's fate only deepened as more clues were found. How did Franklin's final expedition end in tragedy? What happened to the crew? The thrilling discoveries in the Arctic of the wrecks of Erebus in 2014 and Terror in 2016 have brought the events of 170 years ago into sharp focus and excited new interest in the Franklin expedition. This richly illustrated book is an essential guide to this story of heroism, endurance, tragedy and dark desperation.

In a salty, slashing style, Tristan Jones unfolds his extraordinary saga--a six year voyage during which he a covered a distance equal to twice the circumference of the world--revealing both a rich sense of history an insuppressible Welsh wit. With a singleness of purpose as ferocious as nay hazard he encountered, Tristan Jones would not give up--even after dodging snipers on the Red Sea, capsizing off the Cape of Good Hope, starving in the Amazon, struggling for 3,000 miles against the mightiest sea current in the world, and hauling his boat over the rugged Andes three miles above sea level to find at last the legendary Island of the Sun. And beyond lay te most awesome challenge of all--the tortuous trek through 6,000 miles of uncharted rivers to find his way back to the ocean.

'Joyful, life-affirming, greedy. I loved it' - DIANA HENRY 'Whether you are an avid cyclist, a Francophile, a greedy gut, or simply an appreciator of impeccable writing - this book will get you hooked' - YOTAM OTTOLENGHI The nation's 'taster in chief' cycles 2,300 km across France in search of the definitive versions of classic French dishes. A green bike drunkenly weaves its way up a cratered hill in the late-morning sun, the gears grinding painfully, like a pepper mill running on empty. The rider crouched on top in a rictus of pain has slowed to a gravity-defying crawl when, from somewhere nearby, the whine of a nasal engine breaks through her ragged breathing. A battered van appears behind her, the customary cigarette dangling from its driver's-side window... as he passes, she casually reaches down for some water, smiling broadly in the manner of someone having almost too much fun. 'No sweat,' she says jauntily to his retreating exhaust pipe. 'Pas de probleme, monsieur.' A land of glorious landscapes, and even more glorious food, France is a place built for cycling and for eating, too - a country large enough to give any journey an epic quality, but with a bakery on every corner. Here, you can go from beach to mountain, Atlantic to Mediterranean, polder to Pyrenees, and taste the difference every time you stop for lunch. If you make it to lunch, that is... Part travelogue, part food memoir, all love letter to France, One More Croissant for the Road follows 'the nation's taster in chief' Felicity Cloake's very own Tour de France, cycling 2,300km across France in search of culinary perfection; from Tarte Tatin to Cassoulet via Poule au Pot, and Tartiflette. Each of the 21 'stages' concludes with Felicity putting this new found knowledge to good use in a fresh and definitive recipe for each dish - the culmination of her rigorous and thorough investigative work on behalf of all of our taste buds.

This book traces the origin of the legend of El Dorado and the various expeditions that set out to locate that mysterious land of untold wealth in South America. Motivated by both fanciful rumors of a golden city ruled by a man who coated himself daily with gold dust, and the more practical allure of a region abundant in cinnamon trees (a spice that was worth its weight in gold to Europeans), many conquistadors convinced themselves that another native empire awaited their conquest. These quests for fortune and glory would lead to an encounter with fierce female warriors who were believed to be the Amazons of ancient Greek lore, and the discovery of the mighty river later named for the legendary Amazon tribe. The first half of this book details the lesser-known accounts of German interest in locating the wealth of a golden kingdom called Xerira and an elusive passage at Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo which supposedly led to the Pacific Ocean. The second section focuses on the various Spanish efforts to discover El Dorado, each of which was eventually doomed to despair, disappointment, and death.