The Great Explorer

Penetrating biographies written by a group of distinguished travel writers, broadcasters, and historians reveal the lives, motives, and passions of forty major explorers in history. It has always been mankind’s gift, or curse, to be inquisitive, and through the ages people have been driven to explore the limits of the worlds known to them—and beyond. Here are the stories of forty of the world’s greatest explorers from Europe, America, Asia, and Australia. These are men and women who changed our perception of the world through their courageous adventures. Organized thematically, the book opens with the oceanic journeys of five hundred years ago, when the great era of recorded exploration began. The following sections look at The Land, Rivers, Polar Ice, Deserts, Life on Earth, and New Frontiers. Many of these explorers recounted their journeys in vivid firsthand accounts; others were superb artists or photographers. The book features quotes from their journals and reports, and it is illustrated with paintings, photographs, engravings, and maps, so that we can experience their adventures through their own eyes and in their own words. Featured explorers include: Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, James Cook, Lewis and Clark, Richard Burton, Samuel de Champlain, David Livingstone, Roald Amundsen, Gertrude Bell, Alexander von Humboldt, Yuri Gagarin, and Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

When a famous explorer goes missing in the North Pole, his son, Tom, decides he must find him. And so a daring adventure begins across the treacherous icy terrain of the North Pole. Will Tom be able overcome the many challenges ahead and find his father?

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.

Presents material selected from Morison's two earlier books--The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages, A.D. 500-1600 and The European Discovery of America: The The Southern Voyages, 1492-1616.

When Jimmy is forced to spend a rainy day indoors, Grandfather gives him a peek at the family treasure chest where Jimmy finds old journals once belonging to his great-great-grandfather when he was a ship's cabin boy.

“A perceptive and gripping biography” of the enigmatic British explorer, photographer, and author of Arabian Sands (Daily Mail, UK). Wilfred Thesiger, the last of the great gentlemen explorer-adventurers, journeyed for sixty years to some of the remotest, most dangerous places on earth, from the mountains of western Asia to the marshes of Iraq. The author of Arabian Sands, The Marsh Arabs and The Life of my Choice, he was a legend in his own lifetime. Yet his character and motivations have remained an intriguing enigma. In this authorized 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.

Aleksei P. Okladnikov (1908–1981), a prominent Russian archaeologist, spent more than 50 years studying prehistoric sites in various parts of the Soviet Union – in Siberia, Central Asia and Mongolia. This biography will appeal to archaeologists, historians, and anyone interested in the history of the humanities in the twentieth century.

"Lose yourself in the travels and adventures of the great explorers and meet some of the fascinating figures who have made such an impact on world history. Find out about life on board, navigation, the discovery of new lands, and the legacy of the explorations. From Christopher Columbus's plans to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to Captain James Cook's exploration of the Pacific Ocean, this is the perfect introduction to the history of exploration."--Page 4 of cover

The second volume of the biography of prominent Soviet archaeologist Aleksei P. Okladnikov (1908-1981) concentrates on his works in 1961–1981, when he was a director at the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, in Novosibirsk. during this time he continued his active fieldworks in Siberia, Russian Far East, Central Asia and Mongolia.