Historical Atlas of Expeditions - Hardcover

Farrington, Karen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1904668097 ISBN 13: 9781904668091

Publisher: Mercury Books, 2007

Synopsis

When Sir Edmund Hillary made his famous comment about climbing Mount Everest ‘because it was there’, he summed up the raison d’être behind every explorer’s drive to leave safe boundaries and tackle the unknown. The thrill and honor of being the first to explore any geographical region outweighed the enormous risks for those with a special brand of courage and imagination. Adventurers from Strabo, the Roman explorer in the Mediterranean, to Marco Polo in China, David Livingstone in Central Africa and Robert Falcon Scott in the Antarctic all shared the common traits of bravery, valor and perseverance in their endeavors to make known the unknown. They became the envy of others and won a place in history, their tales of adventure and hardship at once fascinating, fulfilling, and strangely perplexing. Historical Atlas of Expeditions brings this pioneer breed of men, and women, to life in thrilling detail.

About this title

About the Author:

KAREN FARRINGTON is an ex-Fleet Street journalist who worked for several years at London’s Old Bailey. She became a fulltime author in 1987 and has contributed to numerous publications on military history. Her published works include, ‘Witness to World War II’, ‘The History of Religion’ and ‘Natural Disasters’.

From Publishers Weekly:

Attractively illustrated, this atlas is bound to delight students who are weary of old, dry textbook stories of the world's leading explorers. The chapters, which are divided by geographical region, contain maps, biographical information on the explorers, timelines, information on the various cultures and illustrations, making it a good resource for classrooms and teachers. Some of the names are familiarAPizarro, Sir Walter Raleigh, Daniel Boone, Ernest ShackletonAbut others profiled are not usually included in standard history books. For example, Mary Kingsley left England and traveled to Africa, where she helped care for Boer prisoners of war, writing three books about that continent before dying of typhoid. Sir Randulph Fiennes explored Antarctica at the advanced age of 60, despite frostbitten toes. In the 1870s, Nikolai Przwalski wanted to be one of the few Europeans to reach the palace of the Dalai Lama and ended up traveling to the most remote regions of Tibet, refusing to return to Russia despite illness and the harsh terrain. Farrington's writing is lively, and she makes these explorations interesting, but the sheer number of explorers discussed results in descriptions that are necessarily superficial. A good tool for junior high and high school students who would otherwise learn little about these explorers, this book may not sell as vigorously to adults, although clearly it will benefit from the ongoing adventure-book craze. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mercury Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1904668097
• ISBN 13: 9781904668091
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192