For a British Empire that stretched across much of the globe at the start of the nineteenth century, the interiors of Africa and Australia remained intriguing mysteries. The challenge of opening these continents to imperial influence fell to a proto-professional coterie of determined explorers. They sought knowledge, adventure, and fame, but often experienced confusion, fear, and failure. The Last Blank Spaces follows the arc of these explorations, from idea to practice, from intention to outcome, from myth to reality. Those who conducted the hundreds of expeditions that probed Africa and Australia in the nineteenth century adopted a mode of scientific investigation that had been developed by previous generations of seaborne explorers. They likened the two continents to oceans, empty spaces that could be made truly knowable only by mapping, measuring, observing, and preserving. They found, however, that their survival and success depended less on this system of universal knowledge than it did on the local knowledge possessed by native peoples. While explorers sought to advance the interests of Britain and its emigrant communities, Dane Kennedy discovers a more complex outcome: expeditions that failed ignominiously, explorers whose loyalties proved ambivalent or divided, and, above all, local states and peoples who diverted expeditions to serve their own purposes. The collisions, and occasional convergences, between British and indigenous values, interests, and modes of knowing the world are brought to the fore in this fresh and engaging study.

Cook's great voyages marked the end of an era in world history. As he sailed into Hawaii in January 1778 he made contact with the last of the human civilizations to grow up independently of the rest of the world. But equally for the Polynesians and Melanesians of the Pacific, Cook's arrival in their midst merely marked a further (if disastrous) twist in diverse histories already many centuries old. In this immensely enjoyable and absorbing book Cook's journeys are reimagined, attempting toleave behind (or master) our later preoccupations to let us see what Cook and his associates experienced and what the societies he encountered experienced - from the Beothuks of Newfoundland to the Tongans of the Friendly Islands.

"Walking with Houyhnhnms", published in 2017, is a true adventure story along the Roman Military Way, in the shadow of Hadrian's Wall. Follow the exploits, often humorous, of three previously free-living ponies - Roamer, Thorn and Solo. After enduring pack-animal training, they share an epic, once-in-a-lifetime quest, coast to coast, westwards. Discover the unique emotional connection, bonding and interdependency that is possible between houyhnhnm and human. As Solo says, "It was a momentous time." Targeted at a 15+ and general adult audience, the 400-page, 114,000-word, largely present-tense narrative transcends faction: this factually accurate travelogue diary, told in a unique fictional style, is a story of friendship, mutual reliance, perseverance and survival. The author - with contributions from more than 100 schoolchildren met en route and from 12 teenage artists - describes, through the senses of non-human, philosopher companions, an expedition of illumination not attempted previously in the modern era. Explore informally, during rendezvous with experts, inspiring geographical, historical and archaeological facets of changing landscapes partially shaped by the ancestors of modern-day native houyhnhnms. Understand why Britain's remaining virtually wild equine herds are facing imminent extinction in their semi-natural habitats and how we might protect them. Should we redefine the term "biodiversity" in recognition of a view that places humans at the periphery of world ecosystems? As your journey continues, you may sense a new meaning to our relationship with wild and virtually wild species. "One day," insists Roamer, "you might enjoy walking with houyhnhnms." Copyright D A Murray 2018

Thor Heyerdahl is one of the greatest explorers of our day. At the age of 84 he has chosen to take a journey through his memories. This is not a chronological autobiography but rather an epic exploration of the world and the amazing events that Heyerdahl has pioneered, participated in and observed. IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ADAM is an account of life where personal experiences of a dramatic and emotional nature - secret missions during the war and near-fatal accidents - are woven together with his views on religious fatih politics and ecology.
It is a book that focuses on the author's own remarkable life, and also brings us back to the dawn of civilization and out into the future. Thor Heyerdahl has spent a long lifetime wandering in the footsteps of mankind. He invites the reader to participate in that journey by sharing generously the details of his private and public life, his accumulated wisdom, and his friendships with a wide range of influential world leaders such as Fidel Castro and Mikhail Gorbachev.
 

In 1866 Britain's foremost explorer, Dr David Livingstone, went in search of the answer to an age-old geographical riddle: where was the source of the Nile? Livingstone set out with a large team, on a course that would lead through unmapped, seemingly impenetrable terrain into areas populated by fearsome man-eating tribes. Within weeks his expedition began to fall apart - his entourage deserted him and Livingstone vanished without trace. He would not be heard from again for two years. While debate raged in England over whether Livingstone could be found in the unmapped wilderness of the African interior, James Gordon Bennet, a brash young American newspaper tycoon, hatched a plan to capitalise on the world's fascination with the missing legend. He commissioned his star reporter, Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands in Wales!), to search for Livingstone. Stanley undertook his quest with gusto, filing reports that captivated readers and dominated the front page of the New York Herald for months. INTO AFRICA traces the journeys of Livingstone and Stanley in alternating chapters. Livingstone's is one of trials and set-backs, that finds him alone and miles from civilisation. Stanley's is an awakening to the beauty of Africa, the grandeur of the landscape and the vivid diversity of its wildlife. It is also a journey that succeeds beyond his wildest dreams, clinching his place in history with the famous enquiry: 'Dr Livingstone, I presume?'. In this, the first book to examine the extraordinary physical challenges, political intrigue and larger-than-life personalities of this legendary story, Martin Dugard has opened a fascinating window on the golden age of exploration that will appeal to everyone's sense of adventure.

In 2010, bestselling author Kathleen Winter (Annabel) embarked on a journey across the storied Northwest Passage, among marine scientists, historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, and curious passengers. From Greenland to Baffin Island and all along the passage, Winter bears witness to the new math of the North--where polar bears mates with grizzlies, creating a new hybrid species; where the earth is on the cusp of yielding so much buried treasure that five nations stand poised to claim sovereignty of the land; and where the local Inuit population struggles to navigate the tension between taking part in the new global economy and defending their traditional way of life. Throughout Winter's journey, she learns from fellow passengers such as Aaju Peter and Bernadette Dean, who teach her about Inuit society (both past and present). She bonds with Nathan Rogers, son of the late Canadian icon Stan Rogers, who died in a plane crash when Nathan was just a young boy. Nathan's quest is to take the route his father never traveled, expect in his beloved song "The Northwest Passage," which he performs both as anthem and lament at sea. And she guides readers through her own personal odyssey, emigrating from England to Canada as a child and discovering both what was lot and what was gained as a result of that journey. In breathtaking prose charged with vivid descriptions of the land and its people, Kathleen Winter's Boundless is a haunting and powerful homage to the ever-evolving and magnetic power of the North.

Greatly expanding on his blockbuster 1421, distinguished historian Gavin Menzies uncovers the complete untold history of how mankind came to the Americas--offering new revelations and a radical rethinking of the accepted historical record in Who Discovered America?

The iconoclastic historian's magnum opus, Who Discovered America? calls into question our understanding of how the American continents were settled, shedding new light on the well-known "discoveries" of European explorers, including Christopher Columbus. In Who Discovered America? he combines meticulous research and an adventurer's spirit to reveal astounding new evidence of an ancient Asian seagoing tradition--most notably the Chinese--that dates as far back as 130,000 years ago.

Menzies offers a revolutionary new alternative to the "Beringia" theory of how humans crossed a land bridge connecting Asia and North America during the last Ice Age, and provides a wealth of staggering claims, that hold fascinating and astonishing implications for the history of mankind.

As Bob and Mildred Lee, they amazed audiences with their death-defying motorcycle act. In reality, they were Bob and Mildred Restall, parents of three, who balanced their glamorous show-business career with a happy, stable home life. In October 1959, the Restalls embarked on the ultimate family adventure, as Bob led his family to the east coast of Canada to dig for the famous treasure of Oak Island. For nearly six years, they lived without telephone, hydro, or running water, while newspapers and magazines chronicled their attempts to solve the mystery of the Money Pit. On August 17, 1965, their quest ended in tragedy when four men died. This biography, compiled by their daughter, includes material written by each family member. Lyrical descriptions of nature, amusing anecdotes, details of the dig, and numerous photographs help to tell the story. This book is a must for Oak Island enthusiasts.

This is a study of the famous controversy between Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke, fellow explorers who quarreled over Speke's claim to have discovered the source of the Nile during their African expedition in 1857-59. Speke died of a gunshot wound, probably accidental, the day before a scheduled debate with Burton in 1864. Burton has had the upper hand in subsequent accounts. Speke has been called a "cad." In light of new evidence and after a careful reading of duelling texts, Carnochan concludes that the case against Speke remains unproven-and that the story, as normally told, displays the inescapable uncertainty of historical narrative. All was fair in this love-war.

This book is a work of historical fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Some names of actual participants and events in the Klondike Gold Rush appear though the events described herein are of the author's imagination. The greatest gold rush in history began with a shout and a rush by thousands to get to the gold fields as soon as possible. . . . "The mental pictures of what tomorrow will bring keep running through my mind, and I can't sleep. I've listened to the men describe the climb up those icy steps to the top of the Chilkoot Pass . . . ." Winifred (Freddie), her husband, Leonard, along with his childhood friend, Walt, embark on an amazing journey to find gold in Canada in what would later be referred to as "Klonkdike Fever." Join the trio as Freddie journals about their experience.

Scott's last Antarctic expedition is one of the great adventure stories of the twentieth century. On 1 November 1911, a British team set out on the gruelling 800-mile journey across the coldest and highest continent on Earth to travel to the South Pole. Five men battled through unimaginably harsh conditions only to find the Norwegian flag had been planted at the Pole just weeks before. Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Lieutenant Henry Bowers, Petty Officer Edgar Evans, Captain Lawrence Oates, and Dr Edward Wilson all died on the return trek, starved and frozen to death, only eleven miles from a supply camp. In November 1912, a rescue party discovered their last letters and diaries, which told a story of bravery, hardship, and self-sacrifice that shocked the world. Recent decades have seen controversy rage over whether Scott was the last of a line of great Victorian explorers, intent on discovering uncharted lands, or a hopeless incompetent driven by personal ambition. Rejecting the stereotypes, Max Jones reveals a complex figure, a product of the passions and preoccupations of an imperial age. He also shows how heroes are made and manipulated, through a close examination of the unprecedented outpouring of public grief at the news of the death of Scott and his companions. Max Jones uses fascinating new evidence and prevously unseen illustrations to take us back to this remarkable moment in modern history, and tells for the first time the full story of The Last Great Quest.

Captain Cook's Journals provide his own vivid first-hand account of three extraordinary expeditions. These charted the entire coast of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, and brought back detailed descriptions of Tahiti, Tonga, and a host of until then unknown islands in the Pacific. The journals amply reveal the determination, courage and skill which enabled Cook to wrestle with the continuous dangers of uncharted seas and the problems of achieving a working relationship with the peoples whose unannounced guest he became.

This edition, abridged from the definitive four-volume collection published by the Hakluyt Society, makes Cook's inimitable personal account of his nine years of voyaging widely accessible for the first time. The selection preserves the spirit and rhythm of the full narrative, as well as Cook's idiosyncratic spelling. Philip Edwards gives an introduction to each voyage together with maps, a glossary of unusual words and indexes of people and places. A postscript offers a full assessment of the continuing controversies surrounding Cook's death.

Wit, wisdom, adventure, and revelations from sixty years on the road. They say that only truck drivers experience the true grandeur and landscape of America: the winding mountainsides at sunrise, the first frosts of winter descending on apple orchards, the call of the rising roosters. In A Trucker's Tale, Ed Miller gives an inside look at the allure of the work and the colorful characters who haul our goods on the open road. He shares what it was like to grow up in a boisterous trucking family, his experience as an equipment officer in Vietnam, the wide range of vehicles he's mounted, and the daily trials, tribulations, risks, and exploits that define life as a trucker. Ed's vibrant, no-holds-barred tales are hilarious and heartwarming, sometimes cringeworthy or unbelievable—recollections of heroic feats as well as the “fishing stories� that have stretched and shifted from CB radio to CB radio. Many are the results of what he calls “just plain stupidity.� Others bring to light the small acts of kindness and grand gestures that these Knights of the Highway perform each day, as well as the safety risks and continual danger that these essential workers endure. Together they paint a compelling portrait of one of the most important but least-known industries and reveal why Ed, and so many like him, just kept on truckin’.

Explorer Jules-Sebastien-Cesar Dumont d'Urville (1790-1842) is sometimes called France's Captain Cook. Born less than a year after the beginning of the French Revolution, he lived through turbulent times. He was an erudite polymath: a maritime explorer fascinated by botany, entomology, ethnography, and the diverse languages of the world. As a young ensign, he was decorated for his pivotal part in France's acquisition of the famous Venus de Milo. Dumont d'Urville's voyages and writings meshed with an emergent French colonial impulse in the Pacific. This magnificent biography reveals that he had secret orders to search for the site for a potential French penal colony in Australia. The book examines Dumont d'Urville's scientific contribution, including the plants and animals he collected, as well as his conceptualization of the peoples of the Pacific: it was he who first coined the terms Melanesia and Micronesia. He helped to confirm the fate of the missing French explorer Laperouse, took Charles X into exile after the Revolution of 1830, and crowned his navigational achievements with two pioneering Antarctic descents. The book uses primary documents that have long been overlooked by other historians. It dispels many myths and errors about this daring explorer of the age of sail and offers readers a grand adventure along with surprising drama and pathos. Author Edward Duyker has published 17 books, many dealing with early Australian, New Zealand, and Pacific exploration and natural science. These include Citizen Labillardiere (2003), a biography of the naturalist Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardiere, which won the NSW Premier's General History Prize in 2004; and Francois Peron (2006), which won the Frank Broeze Maritime History Prize in 2007. In 2000, Duyker was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques by the French government. He was awarded the Centenary Medal by the Australian government in 2003 and the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2004.]