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Left For Dead
By Beck Weathers. 2000
Anyone who has read Jon Krakauer's famous account of the 1996 Everest disaster, INTO THIN AIR, will remember the story…
of Beck Weathers: the gregarious Texan climber who went snow-blind in the Death Zone below the summit and who spent a night out in the open during a blizzard that took the lives of a dozen colleagues and friends.Even as he staggered back into Camp 4 the next morning, Beck's condition was such that the other survivors assumed he would not make it back down the mountain. He was effectively left for dead, but drawing upon reserves of determination and courage he didn't know he had - as well as the extraordinary selflessness and bravery of a Nepalese helicopter pilot he'd never met - he finally made it to safety. Only then could a new battle begin: to rebuild his life with a family he'd taken for granted for too long.Heartstoppingly exciting and ultimately very moving, LEFT FOR DEAD is a terrific read.John Franklin: l'homme qui mangea ses bottes
By Anne Pons. 2009
Alors que le réchauffement climatique provoque aujourd'hui la fonte de la banquise arctique, peut-on imaginer que tant d'hommes, tant de…
marins se soient jadis acharnés, au prix de mille souffrances, à trouver ce mythique passage du Nord -Ouest qui devait permettre d'aller directement de l'Atlantique au Pacifique et ouvrir un raccourci vers les richesses de l'Orient ? Ce livre est l'histoire de l'un d'entre eux, l'Anglais John Franklin, ancien de Trafalgar, dont les expéditions successives tinrent en haleine, dans la première moitié du XIXe siècle, la Grande-Bretagne, l'Europe et l'Amérique. Lui et ses hommes arpentèrent des terres inconnues, endurant les rigueurs des hautes latitudes, s'obstinant à forcer le barrage des glaces, découvrant les Indiens et les Esquimaux qu'ils rencontraient pour la première fois, et allant jusqu'à dévorer le cuir de leurs chaussures pour survivre. On ne peut rien comprendre à leur odyssée héroïque sans dénoncer les orgueilleuses traditions de l'Amirauté britannique qui les retenaient d'adopter les vêtements, la nourriture et les coutumes leur permettant d'échapper à la famine et au froid. Drame trop prévisible, la disparition de Franklin en 1845 avec les 129 hommes de l'Erebus et du Terror déclencha une cinquantaine d'expéditions lancées à leur recherche pendant plus de dix ans, grâce au soutien inconditionnel de sa romanesque épouse, lady fane, qui refusa jusqu'au bout de croire à sa mort. Quelques corps ont été retrouvés, il y a seulement une trentaine d'années.With a polished walking stick and neatly pressed trousers, Richard Halliburton served as an intrepid globetrotting guide for millions of…
Americans in the 1920s and '30s. Readers waited with bated breath for each new article and book he wrote. During his career, Halliburton climbed the Matterhorn, nearly fell out of his plane while shooting the first aerial photographs of Mt. Everest, and became the first person to swim the Panama Canal. With his matinee idol looks, the Tennessee native was a media darling in an era of optimism and increased social openness. But as the Great Depression and looming war pushed America toward social conservatism, Halliburton more actively worked to hide his homosexuality, burnishing his image as a masculine trailblazer. As chronicled in American Daredevil, Halliburton harnessed the media of his day to gain and maintain a widespread following long before our age of the 24-hour news cycle, and thus became the first celebrity adventure journalist. And during the darkest hours of the Great Depression, Halliburton did something remarkable: he inspired generations of authors, journalists, and everyday people who dreamt of fame and glory to explore the world.Black Livingstone: A True Tale of Adventure in the Nineteenth-Century Congo
By Pagan Kennedy. 2013
A largely untold story of an extraordinary historical figure, this biography sheds light on the life of William Sheppard, a…
19th-century African American who, for more than 20 years, defied segregation and operated a missionary run by black Americans in the Belgian Congo. This work shows how Sheppard returned to the United States periodically, and traveled the country telling tales of his adventures to packed auditoriums. An anthropologist, photographer, big-game hunter, and art collector, the man billed as the "Black Livingstone" helped expose the atrocities that occurred under the reign of King Leopold, and this stirring work tells how he eventually helped to break Belgium's hold on the Congo.Memoirs of a Buccaneer: Dampier's New Voyage Round the World, 1697
By William Dampier. 1968
It was William Dampier's passion to see the world that turned him into a buccaneer. He possessed remarkable powers of…
observation and analysis, and his life as a seventeenth-century navigator aboard pirate and privateering ships is brilliantly detailed in his journal. Throughout his travels of Central and South America and the East Indies, Dampier provides riveting accounts of sea battles against Spanish treasure ships, as well as pirate life, lore, and customs. Originally published in 1697 as the New Voyage, his journal became an instant success, and has been read ever since as one of the greatest travel and adventure accounts ever written.But Memoirs of a Buccaneer is far more than historical adventure. Dampier was a man of intelligence and education with a strong naturalist's urge, and his book quickly became a vital source of information on the geology, biology, zoology, and peoples of the lands he visited. His descriptions of the West Indian manatee, booby birds, cacao, and mangrove trees--flora and fauna never before heard of in England and the Continent--are incredibly accurate. His notes on the produce of Guam and Mindanao--coconuts, vanilla beans, bananas, breadfruit, and more--exerted a powerful influence on Britain's explorations and colonizations. And his depictions of Central America's Mosquito Indians and the natives of Mindanao proved to be highly reliable.The influence of this classic book on the work of later travelers is incalculable, leading writers such as Defoe, Swift, and Coleridge to borrow both facts and literary style from it. It continues to inspire readers today.Horizons of Heroes: The Next Twenty Years
By Cameron Price. 2017
After returning from the Vietnam War, Cameron finds the United States has changed in ways he could not have imagined.…
He struggles to find his path through challenges in relationships, school, and employment. As an African American in the early 1970s, Cameron learns he must persevere a great deal more than the average person in order to achieve his goals and dreams. As one of the former highest ranking spies in the military, Cameron dares to share his view on how women know if it is “real love.” Horizons of Heroes: The Next Twenty Years is an amazing non-fiction book and an excellent read.Reaching for the Stars
By José M. Hernández. 2012
Born into a family of migrant workers, toiling in the fields by the age of six, Jose M. Hernàndez dreamed…
of traveling through the night skies on a rocket ship. REACHING FOR THE STARS is the inspiring story of how he realized that dream, becoming the first Mexican-American astronaut.Hernàndez didn't speak English till he was 12, and his peers often joined gangs, or skipped school. And yet, by his twenties he was part of an elite team helping develop technology for the early detection of breast cancer. He was turned down by NASA eleven times on his long journey to donning that famous orange space suit.Hernàndez message of hard work, education, perseverance, of "reaching for the stars," makes this a classic American autobiography.J'ai chevauché les océans
By Mike Birch, Olivier Peretié. 2017
Premier vainqueur de la mythique Route du Rhum, Mike Birch est devenu célèbre à 47 ans. A l'âge où les…
marins songent à leur reconversion, ce Canadien commençait une brillante carrière de coureur au large, terminant toujours aux avant-postes des épreuves qui devaient transformer la voile océanique en sport spectacle. Seul à bord d'un petit trimaran jaune, il avait triomphé dans les derniers mètres de cette course endeuillée par la disparition d'Alain Colas. Deux ans plus tôt, à bord d'une minuscule libellule à trois coques, ce parfait inconnu avait déjà fait sensation en terminant sa première transat sur les talons d'Éric Tabarly. Pourtant, ce surdoué du vent n'avait pas d'eau salée dans les veines. Avant de s'élancer seul en mer, il avait été mineur de fond, ouvrier du pétrole, cow-boy, docker, matelot au commerce, mécanicien auto et enfin convoyeur de yachts. Toujours discret, modeste, économe de mots comme de gestes, cet artiste du grand large a enfin consenti à raconter ses mille vies dans ces mémoires étonnants, savoureux, poignants. 2017.Himalayistes: à la conquête de l'altitude ((Hommes et montagnes).)
By Gilles Modica. 2008
La conquête des plus hauts sommets de la terre a été loeuvre dhommes hors du commun et de leurs efforts…
incommensurables. Mais cette épopée du courage et de la peur est aussi le fruit de lironie du sort. Lexploration de lHimalaya sest déroulée en trois dimensions. Il sagissait darpenter dimmenses territoires, mais aussi den conquérir les sommets tout en repoussant les frontières de laltitude. Dans cette quête admirable et déraisonnable se sont illustrés des alpinistes de tout poil, mus par les inspirations les plus variées. Gilles Modica dresse le portrait dune vingtaine dentre eux, célèbres ou moins connus, qui, de la fin du XIXe siècle à la fin du XXe, ont tenté dapprivoiser les effets sournois de laltitude. -- 4e de couv.In Perfect Timing
By Peter Caddy. 1996
In this book, Peter, a master storyteller, takes us on a journey of inspiration, action and spirit. We also participate…
in his struggles, hardships and initiations, but with Peter, problems and challenges are met head-on with indomitable positive thought and action. His legacy to us all is the knowledge that following our inner guidance -- God's will -- is not only an exciting, wonderful adventure, it can also change the world.Peter Caddy gave himself completely and unconditionally to life, embracing it with zest, courage and delight. There was nothing otherworldly about Peter. He was a man of action who thoroughly enjoyed taking on a challenge -- the greater the better. Whether serving in the wartime RAF, climbing the Himalayas in Tibet, managing a luxury hotel on spiritual principles or running a New Age community, he climbed every mountain God put in front of him. He married five times and fathered six children. As a consequence, his life reads like an adventure novel: it is a ripping good yarn, which is all the more powerful because it is true.Alone: Lost Overboard in the Indian Ocean
By Brett Archibald. 2016
"Solitude is terrifying and awe-inspiring in Alone." —The Wall Street JournalIn April 2013, fifty-year-old Brett Archibald was on board a…
surf-charter boat, making a night-time crossing of the remote Mentawai Strait off Sumatra, Indonesia. In the middle of a storm, ill with severe food poisoning, he blacked out. When he came to, he found himself in the raging sea, sixty miles from shore. As Brett saw the lights of his boat disappearing into the darkness, it became clear that no one had seen him fall, and that no one would hear his shouts for help. He was alone in the ocean.It would be eight hours before his friends realized he was missing. At that point a frantic search began for a single man somewhere in thousands of square miles of heaving waves. The rough weather meant that no planes or helicopters could assist in the search. According to the experts, he should have died within ten to fourteen hours.Instead, Brett battled Portuguese man o' war and jellyfish, sharks, seagulls, and the stormy seas for more than 28 hours. Alone is the remarkable tale of his miraculous survival and rescue. It is also the story of what it takes to defy extraordinary odds and the incredible power of the human spirit.My Dream To Be Free
By Juergen Stollin, Hannah Gunasingh. 2017
Autobiography. This is the story of a man from German, who had worked as a cook on a ship, spent…
many years abroad in several countries including Egypt, Sri Lanka, India and who is now living in Tenerife.Man Proposes, God Disposes: Recollections of a French Pioneer
By Vivien Bosley, Pierre Maturié, Robert Wardhaugh. 2013
In 1910, young Pierre Maturié bid farewell to his comfortable bourgeois existence in rural France and travelled to northern Alberta…
in search of independence, adventure, and newfound prosperity. Some sixty years later, he wrote of the four years he spent in Canada before he returned to France in 1914 to fight in the First World War. Like that of so many youthful pioneers, his story is one of adventure and hardship—perilous journeys, railroad construction in the Rockies, panning for gold in swift-flowing streams, transporting goods for the Hudson’s Bay Company along the Athabasca River. Blessed with the rare gift of a natural storyteller, Maturié conveys his abiding nostalgia for a country he loved deeply yet ultimately had to abandon. Maturié’s memoir, Man Proposes, God Disposes, appeared in France in 1972, to a warm reception. Now, in the deft and marvellously empathetic translation of Vivien Bosley, it is at long last available in English. As a portrait of pioneer life in northern Alberta, as a window onto the French experience in Canada, and, above all, as an irresistible story—it will continue to find a place in the hearts of readers for years to come.David Thompson
By Tom Shardlow. 2006
Across North America in 2007-2009 communities will celebrate the David Thompson Bicentennials For 34 years the great explorer…
surveyor and fur trader travelled across the continent finding and mapping the routes between the St Lawrence and the Pacific Trusting the stars and his sextant he surveyed a continental area so vast it remains a mapping achievement unequalled in human history This is the story of David Thompsons epic journey his trail by starsHenry Hudson: New World Voyager
By Edward Butts. 2009
In 1607 Henry Hudson was an obscure English sea captain. By 1610 he was an internationally renowned explorer. He made…
two voyages in search of a Northeast Passage to the Orient and had discovered the Spitzbergen Islands and their valuable whaling grounds. In the process, Hudson had sailed farther north than any other European before him. In 1609, working for the Dutch, he had explored the Hudson River and had made a Dutch colony in America possible. Sailing from England in 1610, on what would be his most famous voyage, Hudson began his search for the Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic. This was also his last exploration. Only a few of the men under his command lived to see England again. Hudson’s expedition was one of great discovery and even greater disaster. Extreme Arctic conditions and Hudson’s own questionable leadership resulted in the most infamous mutiny in Canadian history, and a mystery that remains unsolved.James Douglas: Father of British Columbia
By Julie H. Ferguson. 2009
James Douglas’s story is one of high adventure in pre-Confederation Canada. It weaves through the heart of Canadian and Pacific…
Northwest history when British Columbia was a wild land, Vancouver didn’t exist, and Victoria was a muddy village. Part black and illegitimate, Douglas was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1803 to a Scottish plantation owner and a mixed-race woman. After schooling in Scotland, the fifteen-year-old Douglas sailed to Canada in 1819 to join the fur trade. With roads non-existent, he travelled thousands of miles each year, using the rivers and lakes as his highways. He paddled canoes, drove dogsleds, and snowshoed to his destinations. Douglas became a hard-nosed fur trader, married a part-Cree wife, and nearly provoked a war between Britain and the United States over the San Juan Islands on the West Coast. When he was in his prime, he established Victoria and secrured the western region of British North America from the Russian Empire and the expansionist Americans. Eventually, Douglas became the controversial governor of the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia and oversaw the frenzied Fraser and Cariboo gold rushes.Vilhjalmur Stefansson: Arctic Adventurer
By Tom Henighan. 2009
Born in Manitoba of Icelandic parents, Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962) became one of Canada’s most famous and controversial Arctic explorers. After…
graduate studies in anthropology at Harvard University, Stefansson lived with and studied Inuit in the Mackenzie River Delta in the Northwest Territories in the winter of 1906-07. In two subsequent expeditions he completed a major anthropological survey of the Central and Western Arctic coasts and islands of North America; located and lived with the Copper Inuit, a previously unknown group of aboriginal people; and discovered the world’s last major land masses. During his third and final great Arctic expedition from 1913 to 1918, some of Stefansson’s men perished tragically, an outcome that severely damaged his reputation. Nevertheless, the hardy explorer contributed immensely to knowledge about the Far North, particularly in his championing of the "Friendly Arctic." Part scientist, part showman, Vilhjalmur Stefansson was truly unique among polar adventurers.Ships of Wood and Men of Iron: A Norwegian-Canadian Saga of Exploration in the High Arctic
By Gerard Kenney. 2005
In the barren lands of Canada far north of the Arctic circle, summers are quick and cool, mere short interruptions…
in the true business of the polar regions, winter. Winters there can be dangerous with temperatures that plunge to awesome depths during the long, lonely hours of Arctic darkness. Powerful blizzards shriek across the land for days at a time, causing all animal life to seek shelter from the cutting blast, essentially putting a temporary end to normal activities of life, such as travelling and eating. It is an unforgiving land that does not easily suffer fools. Over 100 years ago, in June 1898, Captain Otto Sverdrup and 15 crewmen put out to sea aboard the schooner Fram from the Norwegian city today known as Oslo. When they returned to Norway four years later, they came back with a record of geographic and scientific discovery, the richness of which is unparalleled in the annals of Arctic exploration. The first section of this book is the story of those four heroic years spent in the High Arctic and their impact on Canadas subsequent efforts to ensure Canadian sovereignty in the area of the Norwegian discoveries. The second section of the book deals with the Canadian Arctic expeditions between 1903 and 1948, led by intrepid men such as A.P. Low, Joseph E. Bernier, Vilhjalmur Stefansson and Henry Larsen. "For anyone interested in the recent history of the Canadian North and why we even call it the Canadian North Ships of Wood and Men of Iron is a must read. Kenney persuasively nominates a shortlist of new national heroes for a country badly in need of them."- Randy Boswell, CanWest News Service "In my view, this book will be an important document about Canada-Norway relations in the North, especially considering the increased international emphasis now on circumpolar relations in the North."- Shirley Wolff Serafini, Canadian Ambassador to Norway "This book is a well deserved recognition of one of Norways most famous polar explorers and his invaluable contributions to the exploration and development of science in the Canadian Arctic. Gerard Kenney’s book also sheds an interesting new light on the history of the final settlement of Norways territorial claim of the Sverdrup Islands."- Ingvard Havnen, former Norwegian Ambassador to CanadaPolar Region Explorers 2-Book Bundle: River Rough, River Smooth / Arctic Naturalist
By Anthony Dalton. 2016
Presenting a special 2-book bundle of Anthony Dalton’s outstanding writing on Canada's polar regions, their history, and their greatest explorers.…
“Dalton does an excellent job … a very enjoyable read.”— Bios Newsletter Includes: River Rough, River Smooth Manitoba’s Hayes River runs over 600 km, from Norway House to Hudson Bay. Traditionally used for transport and hunting by the indigenous Cree, it became a major fur trade route from the 17th to 19th centuries. This is the account of the author’s journey on the Hayes in the company of modern-day voyageurs reliving the past. Arctic Naturalist J. Dewey Soper was the last of the great pioneer naturalists in Canada, and spent many years in the Arctic, where he discovered the breeding grounds of the blue goose and charted the final unknown region of Baffin Islands coastline.The Unsolved Oak Island Mystery 3-Book Bundle: The Oak Island Mystery / Oak Island Family / Oak Island Obsession
By Lionel And Fanthorpe, Lee Lamb. 2014
This special three-book bundle tells the story of the mystery of Oak Island, Nova Scotia, where in 1795 three boys…
discovered the top of an ancient shaft. Two hundred years of courage, back-breaking effort, ingenuity, and engineering skills have failed to retrieve what is concealed there. Theories of what the treasure could be include Captain Kidd’s bloodstained pirate gold, an army payroll left by the French or British military engineers, priceless ancient manuscripts, the body of an Arif or other religious refugee leader, or the lost treasure of the Templars. Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe tell the entire story over the centuries and offer their own theories on the truth, while Lee Lamb tells the personal story of the Restalls, who spent six tragic years attempting to solve the mystery on their own. Includes Oak Island Family The Oak Island Mystery Oak Island Obsession