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Marco Polo, Ferdinand Magellan, David Livingstone, Amelia Earhart,
Neil Armstrong: these are some of the greatest travellers of all
time. This book chronicles their stories and many more, describing
epic voyages of discovery from the extraordinary migrations out of
Africa by our earliest ancestors to the latest voyages into space.
In antiquity, we follow Alexander the Great to the Indus and
Hannibal across the Alps; in medieval times we trek beside Genghis
Khan and Ibn Battuta. The Renaissance brought Columbus to the
Americas and the circumnavigation of the world. The following
centuries saw gaps in the global maps filled by Tasman, Bering and
Cook, and journeys made for scientific purposes, most famously by
von Humboldt and Darwin. In modern times, the last inhospitable
ends of the earth were reached - including both poles and the
world's highest mountain - and new elements were conquered. With
evocative photographs, paintings and portraits, The Great Journeys
in History reveals the stories of those who were there first, who
explored the unexplored and who set out into the unknown, bringing
alive the romance and thrill of travel.
As featured on ITV News and Radio 4's Today programme 'This book
could not come at a more appropriate moment . . . Matchless man:
hugely important book' Joanna Lumley 'A great champion of
environmental activism . . . His extensive travels have given him
many insights' Sir Ranulph Fiennes 'This is a fabulous book . . .
It's like pumping a mountain stream through your head' Sir Tim Smit
A powerful polemic on the major threats facing the world today and
how they can be overcome. Our world is facing catastrophes of many
kinds, from the climate crisis to global outbreaks of deadly
diseases. But could we look back at the collapse of previous
civilisations to see what lessons might be learned? The explorer
and campaigner Robin Hanbury-Tenison believes we urgently need to
tackle the four harbingers of catastrophe: The White Horse of
Pestilence and Pandemics - many remote tribal societies have lives
that are healthier than ours - what can we learn from them? The Red
Horse of War - can we avoid conflict through promoting prosperity
and renewable energy for all? The Black Horse of Famine - is now
the time to use technology we've had since World War II to
influence the weather? The Pale Horse of Death - will
geoengineering help to undo the appalling pollution we are
inflicting on the planet, especially the oceans? The lessons of
Taming The Four Horsemen are clear: if we humans are to survive we
need to make transformative changes now.
Exploration has never been more popular and any idea that there is
nowhere left to explore is instantly disproved by the contemporary
explorers who are showcased here. Most of the accounts are written
by the explorers themselves, and they all vividly describe
challenging and extraordinary expeditions to some of the remotest
parts of the world, in extremes of temperature and aridity, often
alone and on the edge of danger. Some of these explorers are very
experienced and are already celebrated worldwide, others are young
and less well known and just starting to make their mark; all are
driven by ambition, aspiration and passion. With 25 illustrations
In Distant Snows, mountaineer John Harding recollects his worldwide
adventures spanning sixty years across Europe, Iran, East Africa,
Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Arctic. He climbed many
classic peaks including Mont Blanc, Mount Kenya, and Mount Cook,
explored obscure ranges, and pioneered ski mountaineering
expeditions in Turkey, Spain and Greece. Written with candour, a
sharp eye for the tragicomic and with a sympathetic insight into
the history and culture of indigenous mountain peoples, Harding's
compelling narrative proclaims the power of nature, the glory of
landscape and the spirit of the mountains. Distant Snows is a
window into the mind and passions of a mountaineer while faithfully
preserving the memory of the many characters who accompanied him on
his mountain odyssey. With a foreword by the celebrated explorer
Robin Hanbury-Tenison, Distant Snows offers tales of serious
undertakings as well as more leisurely exploits, complemented by
Harding's personal photographs and hand-drawn maps. This is a
must-read for mountaineers, lovers of the natural world and those
with aspirations of adventure.
Once described by the actress, Joanna Lumley, as "the man with no
fear", Tristan Voorspuy spent his whole life living up to the
legend. Early stints in Northern Ireland and Germany with the Blues
and Royals regiment were but a precursor to a life defined by his
love of Africa, a life cut tragically short in 2017 on his beloved
game reserve, Sosian. From his epic motorbike ride from Cairo to
Cape Town, to extraordinary wildlife encounters and many
death-defying light aircraft near misses, Life on the Edge paints a
picture of a man determined to live life to the full. It is also
the story of compassion, conservation and, ultimately, tragedy. In
the last two decades of his life, Voorspuy transformed the
overgrazed and drought-blighted Sosian ranch in Northern Kenya into
a celebrated game reserve, acclaimed tourist destination and
successful cattle ranch. True to form, it was whilst defending this
property that an unarmed Tristan, on horseback, was gunned down and
killed, a murder that sent shockwaves around the world.
Throughout history, a handful of unusually driven individuals have
been inspired to explore the limits of the known world, inspiring
us and changing our perceptions of our planet through their
courageous adventures. What is it that makes these men and women
risk their lives in desperate, often fatal efforts to discover
distant and inaccessible places? Robin Hanbury-Tenison, himself one
of the most distinguished explorers of the 20th century, looks at
the greatest of their kind in history, bringing their experiences
to life in vivid and compelling anecdotes and drawing on their own
first-hand accounts. Among the explorers he features are some who
are well known, like James Cook and David Livingstone, and some
less so, such as Herodotus, the first European to record an
expedition and Nain Singh, who walked huge distances to map the
forbidden lands of Tibet, counting every pace. And he asks: what
was it, and is it, that motivates these unusual people? And how
have they enriched our world through their adventures?
Selected by Robin Hanbury-Tenison, described by the Sunday Times as
the 'greatest explorer of the last twenty years', this is a
comprehensive anthology of the writings of explorers through the
ages, now fully revised and updated. The ultimate in travel
writing, these are the words of those who changed the world through
their pioneering search for new lands, new peoples, and new
experiences.
Divided into geographical sections, the book takes us to Asia with
Vasco da Gama, Francis Younghusband, and Wilfred Thesiger, to the
Americas with John Cabot, Sir Francis Drake, and Alexander Von
Humboldt, to Africa with Dr David Livingstone and Mary Kingsley, to
the Pacific with Ferdinand Magellan and James Cook, and to the
Poles with Robert Peary and Wally Herbert. Driven by a desire to
discover that transcends all other considerations, the vivid
writings of these extraordinary people reveal what makes them go
beyond the possible and earn the right to be known as
What inspires explorers to push back the boundaries of the known
world? Why do they risk their lives in unforgiving conditions far
from home? How do they survive at the limits of human endurance?
Who are the great pioneers of land, sea and space? Where next? This
book charts the great expeditions of forty of the world’s most
intrepid explorers, from da Gama to Gagarin. Gertrude Bell plotted
the desert sands, politics and poetry of Arabia; Francis Garnier
was driven almost insane on the banks of the Mekong; Edward Wilson
twice tried to reach the South Pole with Scott; Nain Singh mapped
the vast spaces of Tibet, counting every step. Written by a host of
distinguished travel writers, broadcasters and historians, here are
journeys to savour from every corner of the earth – and beyond.
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