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Outward Leg
By Tristan Jones. 1985
After seven years ashore and after having his left leg amputated, Tristan Jones decided to return to the sea. He…
began to piece together Operation Star and found the perfect vessel in a 36-foot trimaran. In October 1983, Jones and his only crew member, Wally Rediske, set out in Outward Leg from San Diego, intending to circumnavigate the world from west to east by sail.The book is the exciting story of Tristan's preparation for this major seagoing event and the chronicle of half of it. Tristan sailed down the western coast of Central America through the Panama Canal to a small Colombian town. There he had to fight for survival among hostile natives, drug dealers, and uncooperative port officers. He went on to Venezuela, Aruba, and the Dominican Republic during its 1984 revolution. Finally he reached New York and crossed the Atlantic to return to St. Katharine's Dock in London where he began his seagoing life thirty years before.Loss of Eden: A Biography of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh
By Joyce Milton. 2011
For the first time, Joyce Milton gives us the dual biography of the wonder couple, Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.…
Their love prevailed against a horrifying kidnapping and murder splashed throughout the media, their careers, and even the criticism they underwent following their involvement in the America First movement as the United States entered World War II. With new information presented about their son&’s kidnapper, Bruno Hauptmann, and Charlie&’s own role in the case, Milton gives her readers a lot to think about. Thoroughly researched, Milton exposes a new understanding of and view into the personalities and lives of Charles, Anne, and the time they lived in.Saga of a Wayward Sailor
By Tristan Jones. 1979
A &“unique and arresting&” memoir of seafaring adventures from the small boat sailor and author of Ice! and The Incredible…
Voyage (Motorboat & Yachting). Tristan Jones was one of the most acclaimed sea-faring storytellers ever. The combative Welshman was born at sea on a ship off Tristan da Cunha. He dropped out of school at 14 to work on sailing barges, and then spent the rest of his life at sea—-first in the Royal Navy, then as a delivery skipper, then as a daring adventurer. SAGA OF A WAYWARD SAILOR tells the tale of one of his most exciting adventures. Jones sails through treacherous waters aboard the Cresswell, a lifeboat converted into a sailboat, struggling to survive against impossible odds. He makes it through violent storms, arrest by the Soviet Navy, and other extraordinary experiences. Join Tristan Jones and a host of other lively and intriguing characters, as this salty and humorous tale unfolds.Ice!
By Tristan Jones. 1978
The author of The Incredible Voyage sets out on a &“simply tremendous&” and death-defying adventure sailing through the Arctic Ocean…
(Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Retiring on a pension after being torpedoed in WWII, Tristan Jones embarks on a test of endurance that will last over two years, nearly killing him more than once. Attempting to sail farther North than anyone ever has, he embarks from Iceland on the Cresswell in the summer of 1959. His only companion? A three-legged, one-eyed Labrador named Nelson. He spends his first winter holed up near an Eskimo village in a Greenland fjord. After a violent snowstorm and without an adequate supply of food, he spends a full week digging himself out of enormous snow drifts until he is able to be seen and rescued. This incident kicks off a series of impossible adventures as he voyages to the treacherous waters of the North Pole. His second winter at sea finds him trapped in an enormous ice pack in the Arctic Ocean. For 366 days he is marooned on the craft. As he faces his loneliness and the possibility of his own death under the dazzling Northern lights, Tristan Jones's incomparable sailing adventure reaches an unimaginable climax. ICE! is a classic tale of adventure, its author acclaimed by Time magazine as "someone Lindbergh would have understood".Somewheres East of Suez (Sheridan House Ser.)
By Tristan Jones. 1988
In 1983 Tristan Jones, well known as one of the finest sailing adventure writers of our time, had his left…
leg amputated. Refusing to become landbound after a lifetime at sea, he acquired a specially designed, virtually untippable 38-foot trimaran and began to sail around the world. Outward Leg is the tale of his intrepid voyage from San Diego to London. The Improbable Voyage chronicles his heroic journey along an unusual and hazardous route from the North Sea, through the rivers of Central Europe, to the Black Sea. In Somewheres East of Suez, the final installment of this extraordinary saga, Tristan sails eight thousand miles from Istanbul to Thailand. From the tourist- and terrorist-dominated ports of the eastern Mediterranean to African outposts peopled with famine refugees, Tristan maintains the unique perspective of a man who has had minimal contact with society's restraints, using his acerbic wit to spare no fools and offer biting social commentary. After barely escaping with his life in South Yemen, he sets off for the Far East, determined to win out against the difficulties of his disability, whether battling a tropical cyclone or surviving on a dwindling ration of fresh water in the vast windless expanse of the Indian Ocean.The Improbable Voyage
By Tristan Jones. 1986
The sailor-author navigates his famous yacht, Outward Leg, across the rivers of Europe in this travel memoir that&’s &“vintage Tristan…
Jones&” (Publishers Weekly). The Improbable Voyage is the account of master sailor and storyteller Tristan Jones' 2,307-mile voyage across Europe in an oceangoing trimaran, Outward Leg. Continuing his round-the-world journey, Jones traveled from the North Sea to the Black Sea via the rivers Rhine and Danube. Battling ice and cold, life-threatening rapids and narrow defiles, German bureaucrats and Romanian frontier police, the indomitable Jones made his way through eight countries and emerged triumphant, if battered, bruised and penniless, at the Black Sea.Tristan Jones is one of the best-known authors of sailing stories. A Welshman, he left school at age 14 to work on sailing barges and spent the rest of his life at sea.The Incredible Voyage: A Personal Odyssey
By Tristan Jones. 1977
A Welshman&’s witty and gritty sailing adventure memoir with &“the bite of fine sea salt and a whiplike delivery&” (Kirkus…
Reviews). Follow the supreme adventurer, Tristan Jones, as he takes a solitary and intrepid six-year voyage on his small craft, The Sea Dart. Covering a distance twice the circumference of the globe, from the lowest body of water in the world—the Dead Sea—to the highest—Lake Titicaca in the Andes—Jones finds himself "a thousand times beyond the limit of endurance." With tenacity stronger than any obstacle, Jones refuses to give up his adventure, even after falling prey to several disasters that could have killed him. Struggling against the mighty current of the Amazon, hauling his boat over the Andes Mountains and capsizing off the Cape of Good Hope do not discourage him. This gripping story is a testament to his indomitable spirit and thirst for danger.Yarns (World Of Cruising Ser.)
By Tristan Jones. 1983
&“A pleasure . . . a brilliant collection of yarns about [a British mariner&’s] life, his sailing adventures, and his thoughts about man…
and the sea.&” —Lloyd's List In Yarns, legendary sailor and adventurer Tristan Jones tells stories of his remarkable life at sea. Along with tales of the beautiful cruises he has made around the world and the memorable people he has met along the way, Jones has advice for his readers on everything from captaining a boat to engaging with locals in remote locations. He proposes his own theory for the mystery of the ghost ship Mary Celeste. Other yarns include a story of a troubled steamship, his accounts of an unlikely salvage operation in Ibiza, a strange rendezvous on the coast of Africa, and his chance encounter with a renowned American sailor. Jones even shares what prompted him to begin writing in the first place—a turn of fortune that sailing and reading fans have lauded him for ever since. &“The characters and capers, including a Sherlock Holmes-style mystery, pour deliciously from the pen of this legendary adventurer.&” —Cruising WorldLawrence and the Arabs (Biblioteca Breve Ser.)
By Robert Graves. 1927
The real story of T. E. Lawrence&’s life as told by the author of I, Claudius. &“A combination of history,…
biography, and . . . an amazingly human tale&” (Boston Evening Transcript). Immortalized in the film Lawrence of Arabia, the real T. E. Lawrence was a leader, a war strategist, and a scholar, and is here immortalized in an intimate biography written by his close friend, the award-winning British novelist, poet and classicist Robert Graves. As a student at Oxford, T. E. Lawrence was fascinated with Middle Eastern history and culture, and underwent a four-month visit to Syria to study the fortifications built by the crusaders. Later, he returned to the region, this time as an archaeologist working with the British Army&’s Intelligence unit in Egypt during World War I. From there, in 1916, he joined Arab rebels fighting against Turkish domination. His brilliance as a desert war tactician earned him the respect of the Turkish fighters and worldwide renown. &“Interesting and informative.&” —New York Herald Tribune &“[Mr. Graves] has done his job admirably and without any too obvious excesses of hero worship.&” —New Statesman &“[Readers] will consult Mr. Graves for information about this man.&” —The New RepublicTake Nothing For Granted: Tales from an Unexpected Life
By Ross Kemp. 2023
'These are the stories of some of the things that have happened to me: the funny things, the scary things,…
the exciting things; the things that have made me who I am. I don't want to start at the beginning and tell them in chronological order because that's not the way my brain works. And this certainly isn't going to be one of those books of life lessons . . .'I've always been passionate about finding and telling stories. And now, for the first time, here are mine.'Famous for his portrayal of TV hardman Grant Mitchell and as the maker of documentaries exploring the most dangerous people and places on the planet, BAFTA-winning Ross Kemp is one of the UK's best known TV stars. Here, Ross shares tales from his remarkable life.From his childhood in Essex, where he used to pretend the woods behind his house were the Amazon rainforest, to finding himself travelling through the real thing thirty years later, Ross's life has taken many twists and turns. Through it all there's been no plan, no roadmap, no strategy. Ross has gone from one wild adventure to the next, and never quite felt like he's fitted in anywhere.From getting lost at sea to setting a sacred island on fire, auditioning for his part on EastEnders to filming in active war zones across the world, these are the heart-warming, hilarious and hard-hitting stories of some of the unexpected adventures that have happened along the way.Warm, energetic and endlessly entertaining, it is a fascinating snapshot of a life lived to the full.Take Nothing For Granted: Tales from an Unexpected Life
By Ross Kemp. 2023
'These are the stories of some of the things that have happened to me: the funny things, the scary things,…
the exciting things; the things that have made me who I am. I don't want to start at the beginning and tell them in chronological order because that's not the way my brain works. And this certainly isn't going to be one of those books of life lessons . . .'I've always been passionate about finding and telling stories. And now, for the first time, here are mine.'Famous for his portrayal of TV hardman Grant Mitchell and as the maker of documentaries exploring the most dangerous people and places on the planet, BAFTA-winning Ross Kemp is one of the UK's best known TV stars. Here, Ross shares tales from his remarkable life.From his childhood in Essex, where he used to pretend the woods behind his house were the Amazon rainforest, to finding himself travelling through the real thing thirty years later, Ross's life has taken many twists and turns. Through it all there's been no plan, no roadmap, no strategy. Ross has gone from one wild adventure to the next, and never quite felt like he's fitted in anywhere.From getting lost at sea to setting a sacred island on fire, auditioning for his part on EastEnders to filming in active war zones across the world, these are the heart-warming, hilarious and hard-hitting stories of some of the unexpected adventures that have happened along the way.Warm, energetic and endlessly entertaining, it is a fascinating snapshot of a life lived to the full.Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy
By Fergus Fleming. 1998
From the author of Ninety Degrees North, a spellbinding account of how officers of the British Navy explored the world…
after the Napoleonic Wars. In 1816, John Barrow, second secretary to the British admiralty, launched the most ambitious program of exploration the world has ever seen. For the next thirty years, his handpicked teams of elite British naval officers scoured the globe from the Arctic to Antarctica, their mission: to fill the blanks that littered the atlases of the day. Barrow&’s Boys is the spellbinding story of these adventurers, the perils they faced—including eating mice, their shoes, and even each other to survive—and the challenges they overcame on their odysseys into the unknown. Many of these expeditions are considered the greatest in history, and here they&’ve been collected into one volume that captures the full sweep of Barrow&’s program. &“Here is all the adventure you could want, stirringly and generously told.&” —Anthony Brandt, National Geographic Adventure &“History at its most romantic.&” —The Columbus Dispatch &“A sure bet for fans of Caroline Alexander&’s The Endurance, this captivating survey of England&’s exploration during the nineteenth century illuminates a host of forgotten personalities.&” —Publishers Weekly &“Travel history of the best kind: entertaining, informed and opinionated.&” —The Sunday TimesCape Cod's Oldest Shipwreck: The Desperate Crossing of the Sparrow-Hawk (Maritime Ser.)
By Mark C. Wilkins. 2011
&“Wilkins&’ flowing text carries readers along on a marvelous journey, offering greater insight . . . into the challenges of 17th century travel&”…
(The Barnstable Patriot). In 1626–27, the Sparrow-Hawk began her final journey across the brutal winter waves of the Atlantic Ocean, departing from the southern coast of England with America as her goal. As cases of scurvy and whispers of mutiny rose, the hopes of those aboard the small vessel began to fade. The ever-changing coastline of Cape Cod caused the Sparrow-Hawk to run aground. Desperate to repair their ship and attain their goal of becoming wealthy Virginia tobacco planters, the passengers wrecked her again, forcing them to abandon their beloved ship and take up residence in Plymouth Colony. Revealed by the tides over two hundred years later, the wreckage was pillaged by local scavengers and put on display in Boston. Join Mark Wilkins as he delves into the secrets of the Sparrow-Hawk. Includes photos!Move Like Water: My Story Of The Sea
By Hannah Stowe. 2023
"A sensuous book, more felt than described, more described than explained, more painted than penned: part memoir, part journal and.…
. . . part natural mystery tour."—Carl Safina A book to sweep you away from the shore, into a wild world of water, whale, storm, and starlight— to experience what it’s like to sail for weeks at a time with life set to a new rhythm. As a young girl, Hannah Stowe was raised at the tide’s edge on the Pembrokeshire coast of Wales, falling asleep to the sweep of the lighthouse beam. Now in her midtwenties, working as a marine biologist and sailor, Stowe draws on her professional experiences sailing tens of thousands of miles in the North Sea, North Atlantic, Mediterranean, Celtic Sea, and the Caribbean to explore the human relationship with wild waters. Why is it, she asks, that she and so many others have been drawn to life at sea—and what might the water around us be able to teach us? Braiding her powerful and deeply personal narrative and illustrations with stories of six keystone marine creatures—the fire crow, sperm whale, wandering albatross, humpback whale, shearwater, and the barnacle—Stowe invites readers to fall in love, as she has, with the sea and those that call it home, and to discover the majesty, wonder, and vulnerability of the underwater world. For fans of Rachel Carson and Annie Dillard, Move Like Water: My Story of the Sea is an inspiring, heartfelt hymn to the sea, a testament to finding and following a dream, and an unforgettable introduction to a deeply gifted nature writer of a new generation.The Evolution of a State or Recollections of Old Texas Days (Barker Texas History Center Series)
By Noah Smithwick. 1983
This colorful memoir brings the Texas frontier to life, from smuggling adventures to fighting in the Texas Revolution and serving…
as a Texas Ranger.Having left Kentucky at nineteen, Noah Smithwick arrived in Texas in 1827 to seek his fortune in a &“lazy man&’s paradise.&” He left in 1861, when his opposition to secession took him to California. Looking back at that time, blind and nearing ninety, Smithwick recounted the story to his daughter—and so came to be this invaluable memoir of &“old Texas days.&”A blacksmith and a tobacco smuggler, Smithwick made weapons for—and fought in—the Battle of Concepción. With Hensley's company, he chased the Mexican army south of the Rio Grande after the Battle of San Jacinto. Twice he served with the Texas Rangers. In quieter times, he was a postmaster and justice of the peace in little Webber's Prairie. Eyewitness to so much Texas history, Smithwick recounts his life and adventures in a simple, straightforward style, with a wry sense of humor. His keen memory for detail—what people wore and ate; how they worked and played— vividly evokes life on the frontier.West with the Night
By Beryl Markham. 1983
The classic memoir of Africa, aviation, and adventure—the inspiration for Paula McLain&’s Circling the Sun and &“a bloody wonderful book&”…
(Ernest Hemingway). Beryl Markham&’s life story is a true epic. Not only did she set records and break barriers as a pilot, she shattered societal expectations, threw herself into torrid love affairs, survived desperate crash landings—and chronicled everything. A contemporary of Karen Blixen (better known as Isak Dinesen, the author of Out of Africa), Markham left an enduring memoir that soars with astounding candor and shimmering insights. A rebel from a young age, the British-born Markham was raised in Kenya&’s unforgiving farmlands. She trained as a bush pilot at a time when most Africans had never seen a plane. In 1936, she accepted the ultimate challenge: to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from east to west, a feat that fellow female aviator Amelia Earhart had completed in reverse just a few years before. Markham&’s successes and her failures—and her deep, lifelong love of the &“soul of Africa&”—are all told here with wrenching honesty and agile wit. Hailed as &“one of the greatest adventure books of all time&” by Newsweek and &“the sort of book that makes you think human beings can do anything&” by the New York Times, West with the Night remains a powerful testament to one of the iconic lives of the twentieth century.Annapurna: The First Conquest of an 8,000-Meter Peak (Lyons Press Ser.)
By Maurice Herzog. 1952
One of Sports Illustrated&’s Top 100 Sports Books of All Time: A gripping firsthand account of one of the most…
daring climbing expeditions in history. #1 New York Times Bestseller Annapurna I is the name given to the 8,100-meter mountain that ranks among the most forbidding in the Himalayan chain. Dangerous not just for its extreme height but for a long and treacherous approach, its summit proved unreachable until 1950, when a group of French mountaineers made a mad dash for its peak. They became the first men to accomplish the feat, doing so without oxygen tanks or any of the modern equipment that contemporary climbers use. The adventure nearly cost them their lives. Maurice Herzog dictated this firsthand account of the remarkable trek from a hospital bed as he recovered from injuries sustained during the climb. An instant bestseller, it remains one of the most famous mountaineering books of all time, and an enduring testament to the power of the human spirit.The Guga Hunters
By Donald S. Murray. 2018
This Scottish Highlands history celebrates the traditional Gaelic bird hunt undertaken each year on the island of Sula Sgeir north…
of the Outer Hebrides. Every year, ten men from Ness, at the northern tip of the Isle of Lewis, sail north-east for some forty miles to a remote rock called Sula Sgeir. Their mission is to catch and harvest the guga; the almost fully grown gannet chicks nesting on the two-hundred-foot-high cliffs that circle the tiny island, which is barely half a mile long. After spending a fortnight in the arduous conditions that often prevail there, they return home with around two thousand of the birds, pickled and salted and ready for the tables of Nessmen and women both at home and abroad.The Guga Hunters tells the story of the men who voyage to Sula Sgeir each year, capturing their way of life and the drama of their exploits. They speak of the laughter that seasons their time together on Sula Sgeir, as well as the dangers they have faced. Delving deep into the social history of Ness, local historian Donald S. Murray also reveals the hunt's connections to the traditions of other North Atlantic countries. Told in his district's poetry and prose, Murray shows how the spirit of a community is preserved in this truly unique tradition.West with the Night
By Beryl Markham. 1942
The classic memoir of Africa, aviation, and adventure—the inspiration for Paula McLain&’s Circling the Sun and &“a bloody wonderful book&”…
(Ernest Hemingway). Beryl Markham&’s life story is a true epic. Not only did she set records and break barriers as a pilot, she shattered societal expectations, threw herself into torrid love affairs, survived desperate crash landings—and chronicled everything. A contemporary of Karen Blixen (better known as Isak Dinesen, the author of Out of Africa), Markham left an enduring memoir that soars with astounding candor and shimmering insights. A rebel from a young age, the British-born Markham was raised in Kenya&’s unforgiving farmlands. She trained as a bush pilot at a time when most Africans had never seen a plane. In 1936, she accepted the ultimate challenge: to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from east to west, a feat that fellow female aviator Amelia Earhart had completed in reverse just a few years before. Markham&’s successes and her failures—and her deep, lifelong love of the &“soul of Africa&”—are all told here with wrenching honesty and agile wit. Hailed as &“one of the greatest adventure books of all time&” by Newsweek and &“the sort of book that makes you think human beings can do anything&” by the New York Times, West with the Night remains a powerful testament to one of the iconic lives of the twentieth century.Drake: England's Greatest Seafarer
By Ernle Bradford. 1965
The authoritative biography of British explorer Sir Francis Drake, from the bestselling author of The Great Siege. Long considered…
one of the great heroes of British history, Sir Francis Drake was a brilliant navigator, intrepid explorer, and fearsome warrior in Queen Elizabeth&’s Royal Navy. He was also a pirate and profiteer who made a small fortune trading slaves. In this compelling biography, Ernle Brandford offers an unvarnished and finely detailed portrait of this complex and influential man. Born to impoverished parents in Devon, Drake rose to power by his own efforts. In his most famous expedition, he sailed around South America through the Strait of Magellan, opening new trade routes for Great Britain. Continuing across the Pacific and around the tip of Africa, he became the first Englishman to sail around the world. Drake also played a key role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada when England was threatened with invasion in 1588. Vastly outnumbered, he led raids into Spanish ports, destroying dozens of ships. But while tales of his exploits have been told for generations, few authors have approached the story of his life with as much depth, authority, and honesty as Bradford.