|
Showing 1 - 4 of
4 matches in All Departments
A journey through time and water, to the bottom of the ocean and
the future of our planet. We do not see the ocean when we look at
the water that blankets more than two thirds of our planet. We only
see the entrance to it. Beyond that entrance is a world hostile to
humans, yet critical to our survival. The first divers to enter
that world held their breath and splashed beneath the surface,
often clutching rocks to pull them down. Over centuries, they
invented wooden diving bells, clumsy diving suits, and unwieldy
contraptions in attempts to go deeper and stay longer. But each
advance was fraught with danger, as the intruders had to survive
the crushing weight of water, or the deadly physiological effects
of breathing compressed air. The vertical odyssey continued when
explorers squeezed into heavy steel balls dangling on cables, or
slung beneath floats filled with flammable gasoline. Plunging into
the narrow trenches between the tectonic plates of the Earth's
crust, they eventually reached the bottom of the ocean in the same
decade that men first walked on the moon. Today, as nations
scramble to exploit the resources of the ocean floor, The Frontier
Below recalls a story of human endeavour that took 2,000 years to
travel seven miles, then investigates how we will explore the ocean
in the future. Meticulously researched and drawing extensively on
unpublished sources and personal interviews, The Frontier Below is
the untold story of the pioneers who had the right stuff, but were
forgotten because they went in the wrong direction.
The previously untold story of an extraordinary man and a great war
photographer.Cameras were banned at the Western Front when the
Anzacs arrived in 1916, prompting correspondent Charles Bean to
argue continually for Australia to have a dedicated photographer.
He was eventually assigned an enigmatic polar explorer - George
Hubert Wilkins.Within weeks of arriving at the front, Wilkins'
exploits were legendary. He did what no photographer had previously
dared to do. He went 'over the top' with the troops and ran forward
to photograph the actual fighting. He led soldiers into battle,
captured German prisoners, was wounded repeatedly, and was twice
awarded the Military Cross - all while he refused to carry a gun
and armed himself only with a bulky glass-plate camera.Wilkins
ultimately produced the most detailed and accurate collection of
World War I photographs in the world, which is now held at the
Australian War Memorial. After the war, Wilkins returned to
exploring and, during the next 40 years, his life became shrouded
in secrecy. His work at the Western Front was forgotten, and others
claimed credit for his photographs.Throughout his life, Wilkins
wrote detailed diaries and letters, but when he died in 1958 these
documents were locked away. Jeff Maynard follows a trail of myth
and misinformation to locate Wilkins' lost records and to reveal
the remarkable, true story of Australia's greatest war
photographer.
|
You may like...
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
|