Wife of self-proclaimed North Pole discoverer Robert Edwin Peary, Josephine Peary was the first woman apart from the Inuit to take part in an Arctic expedition. My Arctic Journal, unavailable for nearly a century, is Peary's memoir of the time she spent, from June of 1891 to August of 1892, accompanying her husband and his exploration party across the northernmost expanses of Greenland. Peary recounts in detail the hardships of life in the frozen North, and describes at length the customs of the Inuit natives, among whom she spent a great deal of time. She also tells of her experiences hunting near the top of the world, and gives her impressions of the other members of the expedition, who included explorers Dr. Frederick Cook and Matthew Henson. Richly illustrated and written with candor and emotion, My Arctic Journal is a unique gem of an exploration memoir.

This compelling, richly illustrated work recounts the African journeys of the intrepid Dutch traveller Alexine Tinne (1835-1869). Heiress to a huge fortune -she was at the time the richest woman in the country - and bored with the royal court intrigues in The Hague, Tinne left for Egypt and Sudan accompanied by her mother Henriette Tinne-Van Capellen, ultimately settling in Khartoum. On her expedition in 1862-64, Tinne was joined by the German zoologist Theodor von Heuglin: the whole party set out for the as yet uncharted Bahr-el-Ghazal, hoping to explore that region and ascertain how far westward the Nile basin extended. After four years of research in the Tinne archives, including hitherto unknown correspondence, photos and other documents, Willink presents a dramatic account of Tinne's eventful expedition, casting new light on the events which ultimately ended with Tinne's murder, most likely by the tribesmen who believed there was gold hidden in her water tanks. In addition, Willink casts a new light on the excitement and the dangers of travel in colonial Africa's uncharted territories before and after Tinne's enterprise, revealing to what extent her gruesome death had been foreshadowed in the earlier years and how it would reverberate in the years to come. An accomplished photographer and collector of artefacts, Tinne left a wealth of material from her travels, and many items are reproduced here in colour, bearing testimony to her fascination with Africa.

Roald Amundsen records his race to be the first man to reach the South Pole. Amundsen's expertise enabled him to succeed where his predecessors, and competitors, did not. His rival Captain Robert F. Scott not only failed to reach the Pole first, but due to poor preparation and miscalculation died with the rest of his party on their return trip. The South Pole remains one of the greatest and most important books on polar exploration.

Life on an oil rig can be arduous and brutal, as Bob Orrell discovered when he worked as a radio operator on the doomed HEWETT A, drilling for gas in the North Sea amidst some of the world's wildest and most hostile waters. He recounts his life onboard with uncompromising clarity: the humor, conflict, camaraderie, atrocious weather, and appalling accidents are all brought vividly to life. When the gas-filled platform suffered a disasterous blowout, rescue boats and helicopters battled against gale-force winds and raging seas to evacuate the surviving members of the crew. Ultimately, the author found himself and one colleague abandoned as the rig continued to spew oil and gas...

Someone told me putting pen to paper, reliving the events of my journey would do me good. Therapeutic they said? What should have been a hop, skip and a jump from Grenada in the Caribbean to the UK in a forty foot sailing yacht? Became, depending on your point of view: An epic fail? Mis-adventure? Adventure of a lifetime? Experienced sailors may consider it the latter. Foolhardy that someone with such limited experience should have attempted it. Armchair adventures might shudder, congratulating themselves it wasn't them. My hope is you, the reader whatever your disposition is: Gasp at the terror. Chuckle to yourself at the funny, sometimes ludicrous situations. Feel anger and frustration from dealing with bureaucratic and corrupt officials. Ultimately sighing with relief and satisifaction that I survived the reality, and you enjoyed taking part in reading about it.

Zheng He's Maritime Voyages (1405-1433) and China's Relations with the Indian Ocean World: A Multilingual Bibliography provides a multidisciplinary guide to publications on this great navigator's activities and their impact on Chinese and world history. Admiral Zheng He commanded the fifteenth-century world's largest fleet. In the course of seven voyages made between 1405 and 1433, his massive ships visited over thirty present-day countries in Asia and Africa. Those voyages reflected and reinforced the development of complex networks of trade, migration, cultural exchange, and political interactions between China and the Indian Ocean world. This bibliography lists sources in thirteen languages, including both scholarly studies and popular works like Gavin Menzies's controversial bestsellers claiming the Chinese sailed around the world before Columbus. Relevant translations, transliterations and annotations are provided to aid the reader.

In life we are occasionally faced with detours. Some of them are thrust upon us just when we think we have life all figured out. Sometimes, however, they are self-created. We choose to take them, driven by some inner desire or passion. Author Jason Thiessen's extraordinary adventure was just such a detour-borne of the dreams of a young boy with only an atlas as his guide to an unseen world.

Nearly thirty years after those dreams began, they became a reality. Thiessen, a man with a wife, a career, and a mortgage, set out on a journey of discovery to find purpose and meaning while attempting to answer lifelong questions. His detour from an otherwise traditional life path took him to South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia, ultimately traveling twice the distance of the circumference of the earth. Just as his adventure brought him from the heights of the Andes to the depths of the Dead Sea, so too did Thiessen take an emotional journey from feelings of excitement, fulfillment, and joy to those of anger, frustration, and despair.

"Around My World: A Detour on Life's Journey" tells a story for anyone who is on their own journey to reconcile modern-day pressures and realities with the insights that world travel can bring to one's life.

Revered for years as a saint, David Livingstone was an interesting character--difficult, demanding, and unsympathetic but also single-minded, determined, patient, and brave. The first European to cross Africa, he discovered the Victoria Falls and survived a shipwreck, attacks by natives, and being mauled by a lion.

Wilfred Thesiger, the last of the great gentlemen explorer-adventurers, became a legend in his own lifetime. This authorised biography by a longstanding friend and associate delves into his little-known character and motivations, as well as recounting the details of his extraordinary life. Wilfred Thesiger, the great explorer-adventurer and author of 'Arabian Sands' and 'The Marsh Arabs', and one work of autobiography 'The Life of my Choice', became a legend in his own lifetime, but his character and motivations have remained an intriguing enigma. In this authorised biography - written with Thesiger's support before he died in 2003 and with unique access to the rich Thesiger archive - Alexander Maitland investigates this fascinating figure's family influences, his wartime experiences, his philosophy as a hunter and conservationist, his writing and photography, his friendships with Arabs and Africans amongst whom he lived, and his now-acknowledged homosexuality.

Tinling has written a book about the exploration and derring-do of 42 women who, individually or with another, ventured forth to parts unknown or little known in the 19th and 20th centuries. . . . The accomplishment of each is sketched in biographical form that will variously intrigue, interest, and fascinate readers of varied persuasions. "Choice"

Despite social restraints and limited financial resources, women have traveled in the past two centuries to virtually every unexplored region of the earth, sometimes with a male companion and often leading their own expeditions. In this book, Tinling offers portraits of some forty-five enterprising and intrepid women who have explored uncharted territory investigating the lives and customs of remote human societies, study rare plants and wild animals, or excavating the ruins of ancient civilizations. The subjects include English, American, and continental European women. In addition to detailed biographical essays, the author presents comprehensive bibliographical data on the published and unpublished works of the subjects and the articles and books that have been written about them.

The explorations of these women have yielded impressive contributions to many areas of knowledge, including geography, archaeology, botany, zoology, and anthropology, as well as sensitive accounts of travel and discovery. Each of the biographical sketches supplies a chronological listing of the subject's writings and a list of chief bibliographical sources. The volume concludes with an annotated list of travel books by women in the English language, a general bibliography, and an index. This book is an appropriate resource for studies in women's history, geography, social history, and anthropology, and an appealing choice for women readers with an interest in travel and biography.

DIVING HEADLONG INTO RIB TICKLING SITUATIONS, WITH HILARIOUS CONSEQUENCES. THIS BOOK WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH OUT LOUD Leading up to retirement, authoress Patti Trickett and her husband Chris bought a 2 berth motor home. Enjoying regular short breaks in the U.K; they eventually had an extended tour of Scotland to celebrate their retirement. Learning the necessary skills of touring, the experienced some hilarious situations Returning home, they decided to do extensive planning, and drive their motor home through Central Europe to their villa in Crete Come with them, as they drive over the Swiss Alps. Live their hippy life style, as they camp near the golden sands of the Adriatic. Beach comb for shells, and collect driftwood for the BBQ, then dance in the surf at midnight under a full moon. You are invited to take a romantic trip on a gondola in Venice, or do some sightseeing at the ancient Acropolis of Athens. The ultimate destination was to arrive at their villa in Crete, and visit the remote villages, high in the Psiloritis Mountains, where they make true and lasting friendships, and meet many colourful characters whilst out walking.

William Bartram's journeys around North America in the late 18th century crossed through much of what was then Native American territory. In the 1790s when this book was first published, the United States was newly formed and was expanding beyond its original thirteen colonies. However, American settlement into the distant lands beyond the Appalachians was limited and gradual. The vast expanse of land was unknown, and much was inhabited by Native American tribes. Determined to traverse and discover the lands of North America, William Bartram set out from the city of Philadelphia, making his way toward the south of the continent. Along his way he describes the wilderness terrain, rivers, landscape and peoples he meets. Many of the Native American tribes he encountered were welcoming, viewing Bartram as a strange curiosity. He would join the natives to eat at feasts, observing their lives and customs, learning their dialects and eventually gaining their trust and friendship.

If Horatio Alger had imagined a female heroine in the same mold as one of the young male heroes in his rags-to-riches stories, she would have looked like Belinda Mulrooney. Smart, ambitious, competitive, and courageous, Belinda Mulrooney was destined through her legendary pioneering in the wilds of the Yukon basin to found towns and many businesses. She built two fortunes, supported her family, was an ally to other working women, and triumphed in what was considered a man's world.
In "Staking Her Claim," Melanie Mayer and Robert N. DeArmond provide a faithful and comprehensive portrait of this unique character in North American frontier history. Their exhaustive research has resulted in a sweeping saga of determination and will, tempered by disaster and opportunity.
Like any good Horatio Alger hero, Belinda overcame the challenges that confronted her, including poverty, prejudice, a lack of schooling, and the early loss of parents. Her travels took her from her native Ireland as a young girl to a coal town in Pennsylvania to Chicago, San Francisco, and finally, in 1897, to the Yukon.
"Staking Her Claim" is a testament to the human spirit and to the idea of the frontier. It is a biography of a woman who made her own way in the world and in doing so left an indelible mark.

This collection of essays assesses the interrelationship between exploration, empire-building and science in the opening up of the Pacific Ocean by Europeans between the early 16th and mid-19th century. It explores both the role of various sciences in enabling European imperial projects in the region, and how the exploration of the Pacific in turn shaped emergent scientific disciplines and their claims to authority within Europe. Drawing on a range of disciplines (from the history of science to geography, imperial history to literary criticism), this volume examines the place of science in cross-cultural encounters, the history of cartography in Oceania, shifting understandings of race and cultural difference in the Pacific, and the place of ships, books and instruments in the culture of science. It reveals the exchanges and networks that connected British, French, Spanish and Russian scientific traditions, even in the midst of imperial competition, and the ways in which findings in diverse fields, from cartography to zoology, botany to anthropology, were disseminated and crafted into an increasingly coherent image of the Pacific, its resources, peoples, and histories. This is a significant body of scholarship that offers many important insights for anthropologists and geographers, as well as for historians of science and European imperialism.