The Worst Journey in the World - Antarctic 1910-1913

Alfred Lansing, Elena Grau

The astonishing saga of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's survival for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas, as Time magazine put it, defined heroism. Alfred Lansing's scrupulously researched and brilliantly narrated book -- with over 200,000 copies sold -- has long been acknowledged as the definitive account of the Endurance's fateful trip. To write their authoritative story, Lansing consulted with ten of the surviving members and gained access to diaries and personal accounts by eight others. The resulting book has all the immediacy of a first-hand account, expanded with maps and illustrations especially for this edition. Chicago Tribune One of the most gripping, suspenseful, intense stories anyone will ever read. Leer más…

Joe Simpson, Chris Bonington (Foreword)

Touching the Void is the heart-stopping account of Joe Simpson's terrifying adventure in the Peruvian Andes. He and his climbing partner, Simon, reached the summit of the remote Siula Grande in June 1985. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frost-bitten, with news that that Joe was dead.What happened to Joe, and how the pair dealt with the psychological traumas that resulted when Simon was forced into the appalling decision to cut the rope, makes not only an epic of survival but a compelling testament of friendship. Leer más…

King, Dean

A spectacular true odyssey through the extremes of the Sahara Desert in the early 19th century. Reader and protagonist alike are challenged into new ways of understanding culture clash, slavery and the place of Islam in the social fabric of desert-dwelling peoples.In a calm May morning in 1815, Captain James Riley and the crew of the Commerce left port in Connecticut for an ordinary trading voyage. They could never have imagined what awaited them.Their nightmare began with a dreadful shipwreck off the coast of Africa, a hair-raising confrontation with hostile native tribesmen within hours of being washed ashore, and a hellish confinement in a rickety longboat as they tried, without success, to escape the fearsome coast. Eventually captured by desert nomads and sold into slavery, Riley and his men were dragged along on an insane journey through the bone-dry heart of the Sahara—a region unknown to Westerners. Along the way the Americans would encounter everything that could possibly test them: barbarism, murder, starvation, plagues of locusts, death, sandstorms that lasted for days, dehydration, and hostile tribes that roamed the desert on armies of camels. They would discover ancient cities and secret oases. They would also discover a surprising bond between a Muslim trader and an American sea captain, men who began as strangers, were forced to become allies in order to survive, and, in the tempering heat of the desert, became friends—even as the captain hatched a daring... Leer más…

Roland Huntford, Robert Falcon Scott, Roald Amundsen

In 1910 Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen set sail for Antarctica, each from his own starting point, and the epic race for the South Pole was on. December 2011 marks the centenary of the conclusion to the last great race of terrestrial discovery. For the first time Scott's unedited diaries run alongside those of both Amundsen and Olav Bjaaland, never before translated into English. Cutting through the welter of controversy to the events at the heart of the story, Huntford weaves the narrative from the protagonists' accounts of their own fate. What emerges is a whole new understanding of what really happened on the ice and the definitive account of the Race for the South Pole. --from publisher description Leer más…

Margot Morrell, Stephanie Capparell

Lessons in leadership, based on the leadership principles used by Sir Ernest Shackleton from 1914-1916 to preserve himself and the lives of his crew as they were stranded on an Arctic ice flow. Shows how to apply that kind of strength and endurance to being an effective leader in any field or activity. DLC: Leadership. Leer más…

Shackleton, Ernest Henry

When Sir Henry Ernest Shackleton was beaten to the South Pole in 1912, he decided to trek across the continent via the pole instead. Before his ship even reached the continent it was crushed in pack ice. Shackleton managed to bring his entire team home by his masterful leadership through a series of incredible events. He has become a cult figure and a role model for great leadership. Abstract: When Sir Henry Ernest Shackleton was beaten to the South Pole in 1912, he decided to trek across the continent via the pole instead. Before his ship even reached the continent it was crushed in pack ice. Shackleton managed to bring his entire team home by his masterful leadership through a series of incredible events. He has become a cult figure and a role model for great leadership Leer más…

Wilson Mcorist; Foreword By Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Shackleton's Heroes is a genuine treasure of Antarctic history, and an almost unbelievable tale of real heroes who risked themselves for the lives of others. It tells the extraordinary story of how a small party of men, against almost insurmountable obstacles, put down vital food depots on the Great Ice Barrier for Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 - 1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Their efforts to help each other survive comprise some of the most incredible feats of heroism in the history of polar exploration, which until now have been entirely overshadowed by the legendary feat of Shackleton on the other side of the continent after the sinking of the Endurance. The complete story is revealed here for the first time, through the diaries of these forgotten men, written out on the ice and at their base camp. We can experience their pain and suffering through their own words, 100 years after the original expedition began. With a foreword by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Shackleton's Heroes is an adventure story of the highest calibre, told through the voices of the men who completed an almost impossible task in horrific conditions Leer más…

Lansing, Alfred;shackleton, Ernest Henry

"Bound for Antarctica, where polar explorer Ernest Shackleton planned to cross on foot the last uncharted continent, the Endurance set sail from England in August 1914. In January 1915, after battling its way for six weeks through a thousand miles of pack ice and now only a day's sail short of its destination, the Endurance became locked in an island of ice. For ten months the ice-moored Endurance drifted northwest before it was finally crushed. But for Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men the ordeal had barely begun. It would end only after a near-miraculous journey by Shackleton and a skeleton crew through over 850 miles of the South Atlantic's heaviest seas to the closest outpost of civilization. This astonishing tale of survival by Shackleton and all twenty-seven of his men for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas, as Time magazine put it, "defined heroism." Alfred Lansing's brilliantly narrated book has long been acknowledged as the definitive account of the Endurance's fateful trip"-- Provided by publisher Leer más…

Heinrich Harrer

In this vivid memoir that has sold millions of copies worldwide, Heinrich Harrer recounts his adventures as one of the first Europeans ever to enter Tibet. Harrer was traveling in India when the Second World War erupted. He was subsequently seized and imprisoned by British authorities. After several attempts, he escaped and crossed the rugged, frozen Himalayas, surviving by duping government officials and depending on the generosity of villagers for food and shelter.Harrer finally reached his ultimate destination-the Forbidden City of Lhasa-without money, or permission to be in Tibet. But Tibetan hospitality and his own curious appearance worked in Harrer?s favor, allowing him unprecedented acceptance among the upper classes. His intelligence and European ways also intrigued the young Dalai Lama, and Harrer soon became His Holiness?s tutor and trusted confidant. When the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950, Harrer and the Dalai Lama fled the country together. This timeless story illuminates Eastern culture, as well as the childhood of His Holiness and the current plight of Tibetans. It is a must-read for lovers of travel, adventure, history, and culture. A motion picture, under the direction of Jean-Jacques Annaud, will feature Brad Pitt in the lead role of Heinrich Harrer. Leer más…

Levy, Buddy

From the acclaimed author of Conquistador comes this thrilling account of one of history’s greatest adventures of discovery. With cinematic immediacy and meticulous attention to historical detail, here is the true story of a legendary sixteenth-century explorer and his death-defying navigation of the Amazon—river of darkness, pathway to gold. In 1541, the brutal conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his well-born lieutenant Francisco Orellana set off from Quito in search of La Canela, South America’s rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, “the golden man.” Driving an enormous retinue of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, hunting dogs, and other animals across the Andes, they watched their proud expedition begin to disintegrate even before they descended into the nightmarish jungle, following the course of a powerful river. Soon hopelessly lost in the swampy labyrinth, their numbers diminishing daily through disease, starvation, and Indian attacks, Pizarro and Orellana made a fateful decision to separate. While Pizarro eventually returned home barefoot and in rags, Orellana and fifty-seven men, in a few fragile craft, continued downriver into the unknown reaches of the mighty Amazon, serenaded by native war drums and the eerie cries of exotic predators. Theirs would be the greater glory. Interweaving eyewitness accounts of the quest with newly uncovered details, Buddy Levy reconstructs the seminal journey that has electrified adventurers ever since, as... Leer más…

Alfred Lansing, Elena Grau

The astonishing saga of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's survival for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas, as Time magazine put it, defined heroism. Alfred Lansing's scrupulously researched and brilliantly narrated book -- with over 200,000 copies sold -- has long been acknowledged as the definitive account of the Endurance's fateful trip. To write their authoritative story, Lansing consulted with ten of the surviving members and gained access to diaries and personal accounts by eight others. The resulting book has all the immediacy of a first-hand account, expanded with maps and illustrations especially for this edition. Chicago Tribune One of the most gripping, suspenseful, intense stories anyone will ever read. Leer más…

Smith, Michael

One hundred years ago, in March 1909, Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition came home safely. When Scott heard the news, he immediately contacted Tom Crean with the intention of planning his own adventure. And thus the Terra Nova Expedition was born. The remarkable Tom Crean ran away to sea aged fifteen and spent more time in the unexplored Antarctic than Scott or Shackleton, and was one of the few to serve and outlive both. Michael Smith's original biography of this enigmatic figure spawned a Guinness ad, a one-man play that is still touring today and a children's version of the Ice Man which has been chosen as the 'One Book' for literacy groups in Cork and Limerick. Tom's story continues to fascinate people because of his extraordinary feats of survival, his bravery and his dedication to his comrades. At the end of his expedition days, Tom came home to Ireland, married and built a pub, the South Pole Inn, in Annascaul, County Kerry. He was an ordinary man who did incredible things, a modest man who became a hero. An unforgettable story of triumph over unparalleled hardship and deprivation. Leer más…

By Graham Bowley

SUMMARY: In this riveting work of narrative nonfiction, journalist Graham Bowley re-creates one of the most dramatic tales of death and survival in mountaineering history, vividly taking readers through the tragic 2008 K2 ascent that claimed the lives of eleven climbers, severely injured two others, and made headlines around the world. With its near-perfect pyramid shape, the 28,251-foot K2—the world's second-highest mountain, some 800 feet shorter than the legendary Everest hundreds of miles to the south—has lured serious climbers for decades. In 2008, near the end of a brief climbing season cut even shorter by bad weather, no fewer than ten international teams—some experienced, others less prepared—crowded the mountain's dangerous slopes with their Sherpas and porters, waiting to ascend. Finally, on August 1, they were able to set off. But hindered by poor judgment, lack of equipment, and overcrowded conditions, the last group did not summit until nearly 8 p.m., hours later than planned. Then disaster struck when a huge ice chunk from above the Bottleneck, a deadly 300-foot avalanche-prone gulley just below the summit, came loose and destroyed the fixed guide ropes. More than a dozen climbers and porters still above the Bottleneck—many without oxygen and some with no headlamps—faced the near impossibility of descending in the blackness with no guideline and no protection. Over the course of the chaotic night, some would miraculously make it back. Others would not. Based... Leer más…

Zuckerman, Peter; Padoan, Amanda

Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award and the Banff Mountain Book Award for Mountain Literature "Gripping, intense...Buried in the Sky will satisfy anyone who loved [Into Thin Air]." —Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe When eleven climbers died on K2 in 2008, two Sherpas survived. Their astonishing tale became the stuff of mountaineering legend. This white-knuckle adventure follows the Sherpas from their remote villages in Nepal to the peak of the world's most dangerous mountain, recounting one of the most dramatic disasters in alpine history from a fascinating new perspective. Winner of the NCTE George Orwell Award and an official selection of the American Alpine Club Book Club. Leer más…

Roberts, David

His two companions dead, food and supplies vanished in a crevasse, Douglas Mawson was still one hundred miles from camp. On January 17, 1913, alone and near starvation, Douglas Mawson, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, was hauling a sledge to get back to base camp. The dogs were gone. Now Mawson himself plunged through a snow bridge, dangling over an abyss by the sledge harness. A line of poetry gave him the will to haul himself back to the surface. Mawson was sometimes reduced to crawling, and one night he discovered that the soles of his feet had completely detached from the flesh beneath. On February 8, when he staggered back to base, his features unrecognizably skeletal, the first teammate to reach him blurted out, “Which one are you?” This thrilling and almost unbelievable account establishes Mawson in his rightful place as one of the greatest polar explorers and expedition leaders. It is illustrated by a trove of Frank Hurley’s famous Antarctic photographs, many never before published in the United States. 24 pages of illustrations Leer más…

Owen Beattie, John Geiger, Margaret Atwood, O. Beattie, J. Geiger, John Geiger

Re-released to coincide with the discovery of one of the lost Franklin Expedition ships.__Frozen in Time__ tells the dramatic story of how Sir John Franklin’s elite naval forces came within sight of the Northwest Passage, only to succumb to unimaginable horrors. A gripping tale of cannibalism, bureaucratic hubris, great courage and ground-breaking science, it shows how the excavation of three sailors from the 1845–48 Franklin expedition, buried for 138 years on the Arctic headland of Beechey Island, has shed new light on what has been one of the world’s great maritime mysteries. Leer más…

Smith, Prof. Michael

"Mr. Smith, in illuminating this unforgettable figure, brings his own considerable scholarship in the field to the story, in addition to access to new archives." - __The Wall Street Journal__"Shackleton has finally received the literary treatment his legendary life deserves." - __Booklist__An extraordinary character and one of history’s great explorers, Ernest Shackleton pioneered the path to the South Pole over 100 years ago, becoming the dominant figure in Antarctic discovery. His incredible adventures on four expeditions to the Antarctic have captivated generations. But Shackleton was a flawed character whose chaotic private life, marked by romantic affairs, unfulfilled ambitions, and failed business ventures, contrasted with his celebrity status as the leading explorer. Drawing on extensive research of original diaries, letters, and numerous publications, Michael Smith brings a fresh perspective to the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration that was dominated by Shackleton’s enduringly fascinating story. Leer más…