In 1528, the Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions were shipwrecked and, looking for help, began an eight-year trek through the deserts of the American West. Over three centuries later, the four "Great Surveys" in the United States were consolidated into the U.S. Geological Survey. The frontiers were the lands near or beyond the recognized international, national, regional, or tribal borders. Over the centuries, they hosted a complicated series of international explorations of lands inhabited by American Indians, Spanish, French-Canadians, British, and Americans. These explorations were undertaken for wide-ranging reasons including geographical, scientific, artistic-literary, and for the growth of the railroad. This history covers over 350 years of exploration of the West.

Glyn Williams’s Prize of All the Oceans was reviewed by Patrick O’Brian: ‘A remarkably erudite and deeply informed book’. And by Andrew Roberts as ‘Staggeringly good… the best book I’ve read in ages.’

The Quest for the North-West Passage should be as big a best-seller as Fergus Fleming’s Barrow’s Boys—which was about the quest for the north-west passage in the 19th century.

Williams’s book is set in the heat of 18th century exploration fever and charts the many perilous expeditions undertaken to find the ‘maritime philosopher’s stone’ from amongst the ice and eskimos of Hudson Bay. Fuelled by the promise of fame and riches from revitalised British trade and dominance of the North American continent, the search for this illusory passage even captivated Cook—the most pragmatic of explorers.

Williams examines successive expeditions from James Knight to George Vancouver. The secretive Hudson’s Bay Company plays a supporting role throughout, as does Sir Arthur Dobbs whose political ambition—and obsessive pursuit of the illusory passage—relied heavily on exploitative cunning, personal greed and putting other’s lives at risk.

The book is based on extensive archival research and archaeological excavations which fuel the content of the book, rich in political and personal intrigue. Written with the narrative brilliance and the mastery of form which characterises The Prize of all the Oceans, this book promises to be both a work of historical excellence and a compelling story of daring adventure, survival and endurance at sea.

For more than 30 years, renowned psychological scientist Elizabeth F. Loftus has contributed groundbreaking research to the fields of science, law, and academia. This book provides an opportunity for readers to become better acquainted with one of the most important psychologists of our time, as it celebrates her life and accomplishments. It is intended to be a working text-one that challenges, intrigues, and inspires all readers alike. Do Justice and Let the Sky Fall collects research in theoretical and applied areas of human memory, provides an overview of the application of memory research to legal problems, and presents an introduction to the costs of doing controversial research. The first chapter gives a sketch of Loftus' career in her own words, and the remaining chapters color in that sketch. The final chapters of the book are more personal, and put a human face on a person who is held in such high esteem. This multipurpose volume is intended to serve as a valuable resource for established scientists, emerging scientists, graduate students, lawyers, and health professionals.

From longtime Rolling Stone contributing editor and journalist Randall Sullivan, The Curse of Oak Island explores the curious history of Oak Island and the generations of individuals who have tried and failed to unlock its secrets. An investigation into the "curse" of Oak Island, where rumors of buried riches have beguiled treasure hunters over the past two centuries. In 1795, a teenager discovered a mysterious circular depression in the ground on Oak Island, in Nova Scotia, Canada, and ignited rumors of buried treasure. Early excavators uncovered a clay-lined shaft containing layers of soil interspersed with wooden platforms, but when they reached a depth of ninety feet, water poured into the shaft and made further digging impossible. Since then the mystery of Oak Island's "Money Pit" has enthralled generations of treasure hunters, including a Boston insurance salesman whose obsession ruined him; young Franklin Delano Roosevelt; and film star Errol Flynn. Perplexing discoveries have ignited explorers' imaginations: a flat stone inscribed in code; a flood tunnel draining from a man-made beach; a torn scrap of parchment; stone markers forming a huge cross. Swaths of the island were bulldozed looking for answers; excavation attempts have claimed two lives. Theories abound as to what's hidden on Oak Island-pirates' treasure, Marie Antoinette's lost jewels, the Holy Grail, proof that Sir Francis Bacon was the true author of Shakespeare's plays-yet to this day, the Money Pit remains an enigma. The Curse of Oak Island is a fascinating account of the strange, rich history of the island and the intrepid treasure hunters who have driven themselves to financial ruin, psychotic breakdowns, and even death in pursuit of answers. And as Michigan brothers Marty and Rick Lagina become the latest to attempt to solve the mystery, as documented on the History Channel's television show The Curse of Oak Island, Sullivan takes readers along to follow their quest firsthand.

May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth is a privileged glimpse into the private correspondence of the officers and sailors who set out in May 1845 on the Erebus and Terror for Sir John Franklin's fateful expedition to the Arctic. The letters of the crew and their correspondents begin with the journey's inception and early planning, going on to recount the ships' departure from the river Thames, their progress up the eastern coast of Great Britain to Stromness in Orkney, and the crew's exploits as far as the Whalefish Islands off the western coast of Greenland, from where the ships forever departed the society that sent them forth. As the realization dawned that something was amiss, heartfelt letters to the missing were sent with search expeditions; those letters, returned unread, tell poignant stories of hope. Assembled completely and conclusively from extensive archival research, including in far-flung family and private collections, the correspondence allows the reader to peer over the shoulders of these men, to experience their excitement and anticipation, their foolhardiness, and their fears. The Franklin expedition continues to excite enthusiasts and scholars worldwide. May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth provides new insights into the personalities of those on board, the significance of the voyage as they saw it, and the dawning awareness of the possibility that they would never return to British shores or their families.

Following his participation in James Cook's circumnavigation in HMS Endeavour (1768-71), Joseph Banks developed an extensive global network of scientists and explorers. His correspondence shows how he developed effective working links with the British Admiralty and with the generation of naval officers who sailed after Cook. He was familiar with most natural philosophers in Britain and across Europe, many of whom consulted his unrivalled collections of Pacific natural history and ethnology, and who shared specimens and information with him regarding the region. Banks also advised the British government and commercial enterprise in the development of successive ventures to India, the Far East and the Pacific. His career demonstrates how a private individual could influence global exploration in the Georgian era. Banks's correspondence is one of the great primary sources for studying the Pacific region during this important period of exploration and colonial expansion. His Indian and Pacific correspondence has not previously been published in a fully edited thematic series. This critical edition of over 2,000 letters uses material from archives around the world. Together with The Scientific Correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks 1765-1820, this edition establishes Pickering & Chatto as the field leader in the publication of Joseph Banks's edited papers and ensures that editorial standards are applied consistently across his published papers. It will be important for scholars researching the History of Science, Empire Studies, Eighteenth-Century Studies and Travel Literature.

The Pacific of the early eighteenth century was not a single ocean but a vast and varied waterscape, a place of baffling complexity, with 25,000 islands and seemingly endless continental shorelines. But with the voyages of Captain James Cook, global attention turned to the Pacific, and European and American dreams of scientific exploration, trade, and empire grew dramatically. By the time of the California gold rush, the Pacific's many shores were fully integrated into world markets-and world consciousness.
The Great Ocean draws on hundreds of documented voyages--some painstakingly recorded by participants, some only known by archeological remains or indigenous memory--as a window into the commercial, cultural, and ecological upheavals following Cook's exploits, focusing in particular on the eastern Pacific in the decades between the 1770s and the 1840s. Beginning with the expansion of trade as seen via the travels of William Shaler, captain of the American Brig Lelia Byrd, historian David Igler uncovers a world where voyagers, traders, hunters, and native peoples met one another in episodes often marked by violence and tragedy. Igler describes how indigenous communities struggled against introduced diseases that cut through the heart of their communities; how the ordeal of Russian Timofei Tarakanov typified the common practice of taking hostages and prisoners; how Mary Brewster witnessed first-hand the bloody "great hunt" that decimated otters, seals, and whales; how Adelbert von Chamisso scoured the region, carefully compiling his notes on natural history; and how James Dwight Dana rivaled Charles Darwin in his pursuit of knowledge on a global scale.
These stories--and the historical themes that tie them together--offer a fresh perspective on the oceanic worlds of the eastern Pacific. Ambitious and broadly conceived, The Great Ocean is the first book to weave together American, oceanic, and world history in a path-breaking portrait of the Pacific world.

First published in 1735, this account focuses on the customs, food, languages and religions of the peoples in the islands and settlements visited. It also has remarks on the gold, ivory and slave trades.

First Published in 1968. This book charts the sea voyages of John Tradescant the Elder, Sir Hugh Willoughby, Richard Chancellor, Nelson and Others. Starting at the mouth of Dwina in 1553 and ending with expeditions for the Russia Company from 1612 and an account of the companions of Tradescant in his voyage to Archangel.

Animal Explorers is a wonderful picture book series that will inspire all budding travellers and explorers to follow their dreams. Lola the polar bear has a passion for plants. She's determined to find the rarest ones on the planet. So Lola makes a grand decision: she's going to trek to the Amazon jungle! It's hard work for a polar bear, but nothing holds Lola back. And there's a prize for her at the end of it, when she discovers the elusive Singing Orchid! Animal Explorers is a witty, entertaining picture-book series that will inspire children to follow their dreams. Sharon Rentta's glowing illustrations are packed withfabulous characters and funny details to point out and share Mini biographies at the end of the book tell the amazing stories of three real-life explorers Also in the Animal Explorers series: Stella the Astronaut, in which an adventurous squirrel dreams of being the first of her kind in space. Toby the Deep-Sea Diver, in which a young tiger longs to explore the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean. Praise for Sharon Rentta's books: "Rentta's illustrations are first class . . . destined to become a favourite." Carousel "full of colour and joy . . . great to read out loud" Books for Keeps

This is the recording of a six month long journey to Persia as well as previous travels in neighbouring areas. The book also describes the communications maintained with the Persian authorities.

Long before GPS, Google Earth, and global transit, humans traveled vast distances using only environmental clues and simple instruments. John Huth asks what is lost when modern technology substitutes for our innate capacity to find our way. Encyclopedic in breadth, weaving together astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, and ethnography, The Lost Art of Finding Our Way puts us in the shoes, ships, and sleds of early navigators for whom paying close attention to the environment around them was, quite literally, a matter of life and death. Haunted by the fate of two young kayakers lost in a fogbank off Nantucket, Huth shows us how to navigate using natural phenomena-the way the Vikings used the sunstone to detect polarization of sunlight, and Arab traders learned to sail into the wind, and Pacific Islanders used underwater lightning and "read" waves to guide their explorations. Huth reminds us that we are all navigators capable of learning techniques ranging from the simplest to the most sophisticated skills of direction-finding. Even today, careful observation of the sun and moon, tides and ocean currents, weather and atmospheric effects can be all we need to find our way. Lavishly illustrated with nearly 200 specially prepared drawings, Huth's compelling account of the cultures of navigation will engross readers in a narrative that is part scientific treatise, part personal travelogue, and part vivid re-creation of navigational history. Seeing through the eyes of past voyagers, we bring our own world into sharper view.

What drew Annie Taylor and Alexandra David-Neal to Tibet, when it was still cut off from the world and so hostile to foreigners, and particularly female ones, that they had to wear male Tibetan dress for protection? What did Hester Stanhope and Gertrude Bell, two such different women, find so compelling about the desert life of the East? What possessed Mary, Duchess of Bedford, to take up flying at the age of 60 - or Naomi James to sail around the world, or Arlene Blum to climb Annapurna? These, and other, accounts of women travellers experiences around the world are included in this book.

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.

The fascinating untold story of Finnish scientist and explorer Pehr Kalm, who in 1750, became the first scientist to visit and study Niagara Falls. Sent by the famous Swedish natural historian Carl Linnaeus to research the New World, Kalm’s task was to collect samples and write descriptions for Linnaeus. His exciting expedition lasted three and a half years, and its impact on the natural sciences was groundbreaking. Kalm described all that he saw: the landscape and geography, colonists’ settlements and customs, Indians and slaves, and of course, many plants and animals. His scientific report on Niagara Falls was the first, and it was published by Benjamin Franklin. Two states have named their state flowers after him, and the Virginia creeper, which he brought back from his travels, now grows all over Finland.The book’s brilliant illustrations offer an accurate and engaging picture of Kalm’s journey, and the text is enriched by passages from Kalm’s own travel journal. From Finland to Niagara Falls is an illustrated history book for the young and the curious of all ages.