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Una aventura griega: Tras los pasos de Patrick Leigh Fermor
By María José Solano. 2023
Un viaje apasionante al corazón de la Grecia contemporánea traslos pasos del intrépido escritor sir Patrick Leigh Fermor, amigo de…
Lawrence y Gerald Durrell. Solo aquellos que hayan vivido los ardientes fuegos de un amor irrefrenable podrán comprender las razones que llevaron a María José Solano a dejarlo todo y emprender en solitario Una aventura griega. Acompañada únicamente de una maleta de mano y los libros del objeto de su pasión, el héroe de guerra y cronista viajero Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011), la escritora abraza los restos de su legado en el país de los olivos. Camina por las mismas calles en las que él, célebre por aventuras épicas en el país heleno, había vivido mil correrías y affaires secretos; brinda con uzo y retsina en las tabernas en las que él se embriagó con su círculo bohemio y, acaso igual que él, sueña con la posibilidad de encapsular el pasado mágico de un país rebosante de tesoros arqueológicos. En este singular trayecto, que se puede leer casi como un romance con la obra fermoriana, Solano hace escala en lugares legendarios como Corinto, Micenas, Epidauro, Esparta o la isla de Hydra, donde Leigh Fermor (Paddy, para los amigos) pasó una larga temporada en una mansión ahora -cómo no- declarada en ruinas. Desde cada uno de esos enclaves, capitales para entender la figura del aventurero, la escritora sevillana declara su amor eterno a un personaje tan singular como enigmático, con sus luces y sus sombras, siempre impetuoso y, hasta su último aliento, impulsado por un hambre insaciable de acción y conocimiento.Amelia Earhart: the thrill of it
By Susan Wels. 2009
Biography of the daring female pilot who vanished in 1937 while attempting to circle the globe. Describes her tomboy childhood,…
love of flying that began with her first lesson at age twenty-four, rise to fame, unconventional marriage to publisher George Palmer Putnam, and mysterious disappearance. 2009Christopher Columbus
By Ernle Bradford. 1973
The &“outstanding&” biography of the Italian navigator and explorer from the bestselling author of The Great Siege (The New York…
Times). Christopher Columbus, credited with discovering America in 1492, was a great explorer who forever changed the world—but his iconic image obscures a far more complex and fascinating life story. Born Cristoforo Colombo, the son of a weaver from Genoa, he renounced his father&’s trade early in life and took to sailing. Though he began in the Mediterranean, Columbus soon found employment sailing the Atlantic Ocean, where he experienced shipwreck, inclement weather, and perhaps the Norse legends of uncharted lands to the west. With the help of Florentine astronomer Paolo Toscanelli, who in turn based his theories on the works of Marco Polo, Columbus devised a plan to find a western passage to the Indies. Though he achieved something far greater—the discovery of a hemisphere previously unknown to Europeans—Columbus insisted to the end of his days that he had succeeded. In this engrossing and deeply researched biography, historian Ernle Bradford portrays Columbus&’s stubbornness and greed, as well as his genius, bravery, and masterly navigation skills.Selkirk's Island: The True and Strange Adventures of the Real Robinson Crusoe (Voyages Ser.)
By Diana Souhami. 2001
Winner of the Whitbread Biography Award: The true story of the shipwrecked Scottish buccaneer who inspired Daniel Defoe&’s novel. This…
action-filled biography follows Alexander Selkirk, an eighteenth-century Scottish buccaneer who sailed the South Seas plundering for gold. But an ill-fated expedition in 1703 led to shipwreck on remote Juan Fernández Island off the coast of Chile. Selkirk, the ship&’s master, was accused of inciting mutiny and abandoned on the uninhabited island with nothing but his clothing, his pistol, a knife, and a Bible. Each day he searched the sea for a ship that would rescue him and prayed for help that seemed never to come. In solitude and silence Selkirk gradually learned to adapt. He killed seals and goats for food and used their skin for clothing. He learned how to build a house, forage for food, create stores, plant seeds, light a fire, and tame cats. Then one day, a ship with wooden sails appeared on the horizon. The crew was greeted by a bearded savage, incoherent and fierce. Selkirk had been marooned for four years and four months. Now he was about to return to the world of men. The story of a verdant, mysterious archipelago and its famous castaway is both a parable about nature and a remarkable account of the survival of a man cut off from civilization.Encounters of a Wayward Sailor
By Tristan Jones. 1995
From the acclaimed teller of such classic yarns as A STEADY TRADE, THE INCREDIBLE VOYAGE, and HEART OF OAK, ENCOUNTERS…
OF A WAYWARD SAILOR is wonderful collection of true stories from one of the great storytellers of the sea.Drawing on experiences from a lifetime at sea, Tristan Jones uses his acute powers of observation and his gift with for telling tales to transport us aboard boats struggling through savage gales, sweltering through parched calms, and sliding down the trade winds through beautiful, phosphorescent seas. With a special poignancy and his unique, wry sense of humor, Jones brings back to life people--like sailing adventurer Bill Tilman, long-distance voyager Bernard Moitessier, and pioneering woman sailor Clare Francis--as well as the places and boats lost to time. He recalls his favorite ports, his treasured cities, and his most memorable voyages.Nomad's Land
By Mary Roberts Rinehart. 1926
A memoir of desert travel—by camel and horseback—from a beloved authorAn internationally renowned writer of mystery fiction, Mary Roberts Rinehart…
knows her way around an exotic setting. When faced with the Pyramids, the Nile, and the sprawling Egyptian desert in her own life, she does not fall in with the crowd of tourists waiting in line at the tombs of the Pharaohs. Instead, she hikes up her skirt, plants her pumps in the sand, and hops on a camel. She has but one question: Where am I supposed to sit?On a hundred-mile expedition into the Egyptian desert, Rinehart does her best to master the herky-jerk of this desert beast. But traveling with an entourage of well-mannered people, she finds that desert living is not completely stripped of the comforts of home. Upon returning to the United States, Rinehart makes an excursion out west, which, she finds, is where the true adventure begins.A Wind from the North: The Life of Henry the Navigator
By Ernle Bradford. 1960
The captivating biography of Prince Henry of Portugal, the navigator and explorer who helped usher in the Age of Discovery.…
Before Columbus, Vespucci, and Sir Francis Drake, there was Henry the Navigator. Pirate hunter, intrepid explorer, and ship designer, the Portuguese prince was one of the great innovators who pioneered the Age of Discovery. In an effort to locate the mythic kingdom of Prester John, Prince Henry organized voyages into the Southern Atlantic and developed a new kind of ship, the caravel, specifically for the task. His explorations yielded riches and fame for Portugal, as well as the discovery of Madeira and the Canary Islands. Yet the scope of his contribution to the world is often overshadowed by other figures. In this expertly researched biography, Ernle Bradford brings to light the captivating tale of a pioneer who initiated an era of exploration and forever changed the course of history.Captain James Cook and the Search for Antarctica
By James C. Hamilton. 2020
A fascinating account of the famous explorer’s voyages through the southern Pacific and Antarctic Oceans, based on firsthand journals and…
logbooks.In the mid-18th century, Captain James Cook undertook extraordinary voyages of navigation and maritime exploration to discover the Unknown Southern Continent. He accomplished and encountered much during his three voyages through the uncharted southern waters, yet his Antarctic voyages are perhaps the least studied of all his remarkable travels. Now James Hamilton’s gripping and scholarly study brings together the stories of Cook’s Antarctic journeys into a single volume. Using Cook’s journals and the logbooks of officers who sailed with him, this volume sets his Antarctic explorations within the context of his historic voyages. Captain James Cook and the Search for Antarctica offers fascinating insight into Cook the seaman and explorer. The exceptional navigational skills of Cook and his crew are vividly depicted as they survive foul weather across uncharted and inhospitable seas.The hard way around: the passages of Joshua Slocum
By Geoffrey Wolff. 2010
Biography of sailor and adventurer Joshua Slocum (1844-1908), the first man to circumnavigate the globe solo. Discusses his years at…
sea, beginning at age sixteen; his marriage to a woman who shared his love of the seafaring life; and his famous 1895 voyage and subsequent book. 2010Storm kings: the untold history of America's first tornado chasers
By Lee Sandlin. 2013
Examines the origins of meteorology and the study of tornadoes in the United States. Profiles early investigators of tornado activity,…
including Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and James Espy (1785-1860). Chronicles the creation and growth of national weather bureaus. 2013The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit
By Michael Finkel. 2017
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The remarkable true story of a man who lived alone in the woods of Maine…
for 27 years, making this dream a reality—not out of anger at the world, but simply because he preferred to live on his own.&“A meditation on solitude, wildness and survival.&” —The Wall Street JournalIn 1986, a shy and intelligent twenty-year-old named Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the forest. He would not have a conversation with another human being until nearly three decades later, when he was arrested for stealing food. Living in a tent even through brutal winters, he had survived by his wits and courage, developing ingenious ways to store edibles and water, and to avoid freezing to death. He broke into nearby cottages for food, clothing, reading material, and other provisions, taking only what he needed but terrifying a community never able to solve the mysterious burglaries. Based on extensive interviews with Knight himself, this is a vividly detailed account of his secluded life—why did he leave? what did he learn?—as well as the challenges he has faced since returning to the world. It is a gripping story of survival that asks fundamental questions about solitude, community, and what makes a good life, and a deeply moving portrait of a man who was determined to live his own way, and succeeded.In Search of Perfumes: A Lifetime Journey to the Source of Nature's Scents
By Dominique Roques. 1992
"[An] immersive debut... with detailed accounts of his trips and vivid descriptions of the scents ... [Roques'] rich travelogue will…
transport readers." – Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)In this intoxicating concoction of history, travelogue, and memoir, one of the perfume industry’s leading scouts of natural ingredients tells the story of the precious ingredients needed to make our favorite fragrances.Do you know how many flowers it takes to produce a kilo of rose oil? One million roses, each handpicked. When it comes to nature, Dominique Roques is a unique authority. He has spent the last thirty years working closely with local communities across the globe to establish a sustainable supply of natural ingredients crucial to perfume making.From resin cultivated by traditional methods in El Salvador to rose oil distilleries in India as old as the Taj Mahal, his network reveals an elusive trade built on the fault lines of tradition and modernity. With In Search of Perfumes, Roques tells the story of seventeen of the industry’s most precious ingredients–where they come from, their cultural and historic significance, and why we love them—from Indonesian patchouli to the "Damask rose,” interweaving his own recollections and reflections on his life and work.From Andalusia to Somaliland, Roques takes us on an exclusive tour of a vast but delicate ecosystem wholly sustained by the artisans who are its caretakers. Isolated and rural, the tropical jungles of northern Laos remain to this day the only source of benzoin that centuries earlier wafted through the air of Louis XIV’s court. In Madagascar, where every transaction is made in cash, a caravan of porters carry pallets bearing $500,000 dollars to exchange for vanilla beans. The Venezuelan tonka bean, as fickle as the weather, may refuse to flower for years but is so esteemed by perfumers that patience becomes its truest virtue. Everywhere Roques takes us, his infectious curiosity and amiability illuminate an immersive world of the uncharted.Entertaining and eye-opening, decorated with beautiful black-and-white illustrations, In Search of Perfumes is an irresistible exploration of the smells that fuel our nostalgia and suffuse our fantasies.Translated from the French by Stephanie SmeeSupplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.The Man Who Loved Siberia
By Roy Jacobsen, Anneliese Pitz. 2020
Siberia, to me, is a fairy-tale land.Fritz Dörries set out on his first trip to Eastern Siberia in 1877, when…
there were still blank spaces on maps of the world. Travelling alone or with his brothers, he climbed mountains, traversed great rivers, explored remote islands and crossed treacherous lakes of ice, always with one purpose: to augment man's knowledge of the natural world. Bears, tigers, vipers, bandits, stormy seas, frostbite, ice chasms fathoms deep - every danger was faced head on and overcome. And yet he remained defenceless against the charms of the landscape, and the animals, birds and butterflies he found there.Through his twenty-two years in Siberia, Dörries collected a wealth of essential material for scientific institutions, fundamental to our understanding of fauna and flora. This account of his adventures, set down for his daughters in his ninetieth year, and adapted for publication by Roy Jacobsen and Anneliese Pitz, is his second great legacy.Translated from the Norwegian by Seán KinsellaThe obelisk and the Englishman: the pioneering discoveries of Egyptologist William Bankes
By Dorothy U. Seyler. 2015
Professor Dorothy U. Seyler recounts the life and work of William John Bankes, a scholar of language, history, and ancient…
Egypt. She discusses his many discoveries, such as the Egyptian King List, and his extensive work with the "lost" city of Petra. His personal troubles throughout this time are also examined. 2015Trials of the earth: the true story of a pioneer woman
By Mary Hamilton. 2016
An account by Mary Mann Hamilton (1866-1936) of her life as a pioneer in the American South. She describes facing…
natural disasters, dangerous wildlife, managing a boardinghouse for settlers in Arkansas, and running a logging camp in Mississippi, all while caring for her family. Some strong language. 1992A woman in Arabia: the writings of the Queen of the Desert
By Gertrude Bell, Georgina Howell. 2015
Collection of letters and diary entries by an Englishwoman who traveled the Middle East and worked as an archaeologist, photographer,…
translator, and spy, and helped to establish the modern state of Iraq. Arranged in groups highlighting her various endeavors. Includes entries from the editor providing further background. 2015Predators I Have Known
By Alan Dean Foster. 2011
An adrenaline-fueled travel memoir of life in the wild among the planet&’s most ferocious and fascinating predators.Over the last forty…
years, New York Times–bestselling author Alan Dean Foster has journeyed around the globe to encounter nature&’s most fearsome creatures. His travels have taken him into the heart of the Amazon rain forest on the trail of deadly tangarana ants, on an elephant ride across the sweeping green plains of central India in search of the elusive Bengal tiger, and into the waters of the Australian coast to come face-to-face with great white sharks. Packed with pulse-pounding adventure and spiked with rapier wit, Predators I Have Known is a thrilling look at life and death in the wild.The stranger in the woods: the extraordinary story of the last true hermit
By Michael Finkel. 2017
In 1986, twenty-year-old Christopher Knight drove to Maine and disappeared into the forest. He did not speak to another human…
being until he was arrested for stealing food nearly thirty years later. Discusses his survival in the wilderness in the intervening decades. Bestseller. 2017Divas rebeldes: María Callas, Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy y otras mujeres
By Cristina Morató. 2010
Divas rebeldes recoge las apasionantes biografías de siete mujeres unidas por el inconformismo, por su personalidad y autenticidad, por su…
estilo inconfundible e insustituible: por su divismo y rebeldía. Los nombres de Maria Callas, Coco Chanel, Wallis Simpson, Eva Perón, Barbara Hutton, Audrey Hepburn y Jackie Kennedy ocuparon durante décadas las páginas de las revistas. Gracias a su talento, belleza y personalidad se convirtieron en auténticos mitos del siglo XX. Famosas, ricas y atractivas, parecían perfectas a los ojos del mundo. Pero en realidad estas rutilantes divas fueron personas solitarias, acomplejadas con su físico y celosas de su intimidad, que detestaban ser tratadas como estrellas. Estas siete mujeres de leyenda comparten dolorosas heridas que nunca llegaron a cicatrizar: la falta de cariño o el abandono de sus padres, las secuelas de la guerra, el dolor por la pérdida de sus hijos o los traumáticos divorcios.Deseo que en este libro el lector descubra las luces y las sombras de unas mujeres rebeldes e inconformistas, que siguen cautivándonos porque demuestran que los cuentos de hadas existen. Aunque no siempre tengan un final feliz. CRISTINA MORATÓ La crítica ha dicho...«Cristina Morató sigue fiel a su empeño en profundizar en grandes mujeres de leyenda.»El Mundo «Un interesante libro que descubre aspectos inéditos de siete mujeres que pisaron fuerte y dejaron huella por su personalidad y su trabajo.»El Periódico de CatalunyaTake the Lead: Hanging On, Letting Go, and Conquering Life's Hardest Climbs
By Sasha DiGiulian. 2023
World champion climber Sasha DiGiulian tells her story—from coming of age under the scrutiny of social media, navigating a male-dominated…
sport, and tackling her most heart-stopping climbs—and shares the power of perseverance and positivity.At age six, Sasha DiGiulian stepped into a climbing gym for the first time and was competing within a year. Decked out in all-pink gear and with her blonde hair tied into pigtails, Sasha knew from an early age what it was like to be a girl in a traditionally male-dominated sport, vowing to never sacrifice her femininity to fit in. With a fierce love for the climb and incredible natural talent, Sasha soon won her first National Sport Climbing Championship at only seventeen, and a year later took the title of World Champion.To her fans, it looked like Sasha was on top of the world. But under the accolades, she was just another young woman learning how to handle the intense scrutiny of social media and dealing with body dysmorphia, all while quietly facing a potentially career-ending injury. In a relatable and inspiring voice, Take the Lead reflects on the highs and lows of Sasha’s illustrious life and career for the first time, bringing readers on her remarkable journey from novice climber to Columbia University graduate, adventurer, environmentalist, and entrepreneur, and one of the most recognizable faces in climbing. For readers of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild and Megan Rapinoe’s One Life, Take the Lead ultimately emphasizes the power of perseverance, fearlessness and positivity in tackling some of the most daunting and fearsome climbs—on and off the wall.