Ranulph Fiennes has travelled to the most dangerous and inaccessible places on earth, almost died countless times, lost nearly half his fingers to frostbite, raised millions of pounds for charity and been awarded a polar medal and an OBE.
Ranulph Fiennes tells the story of his unconventional, exceptional family, and reveals the ingredients for the man described by the Guinness Book of Records as 'the world's greatest living explorer'.
Fascinated by what lies beyond the boundaries of human experience, men and women have throughout history been irresistibly drawn to venture into the unknown.
A lively and highly readable account of the origins, invention and discovery of just about everything on the planet, the truly global coverage of The First of Everything ranges from the Big Bang to driverless cars.
An intellectual history of scurvy in the eighteenth centuryScurvy, a disease often associated with long stretches of maritime travel, generated sensations exceeding the standard of what was normal.
The Xi'an Stele, erected in Tang China's capital in 781, describes in both Syriac and Chinese the existence of Christian communities in northern China.
In the mountains and jungles of occupied Burma during World War II, British special forces launched a series of secret operations, assisted by parts of the Burmese population.
The story of the 1882 Palmer Sinai Expedition, a spying and terrorist mission that ended in the murder of its participants and was one of the great cause célèbre of the nineteenth century.
Ernest Shackleton is one of history's great explorers, an extraordinary character who pioneered the path to the South Pole over 100 years ago and became a dominant figure in Antarctic discovery.
A Sunday Times Book of the Year As featured on the BBC Radio 2 Book Club Dr James Barry: Inspector General of Hospitals, army surgeon, duellist, reformer, ladykiller, eccentric.
Discover the real story behind one of Britain's greatest triumphsDiscover one of Britain's greatest triumphs, drawing on never-before-seen diaries and exclusive interviews 'An exciting, moving account a fascinating piece of documentary writing, as readable and poignant as Into Thin Air or Touching the Void.
This is a remarkable story, not just about the extraordinary achievements of a family, but about the power of the individual to spur innovation, even when the consen
Exerting a magnetic pull our imaginations, the poles have been the object of many gripping first-hand accounts of exploration - literally, journeys to the ends of the earthA passport to the last wildnernesses of Earth, this is the definitive collection of first-hand accounts of polar exploration - 50 true stories of intrepid travel through the desolate and dangerous regions of both Arctic and Antarctic.
The true story of the mad heretic who led history's bloodiest mutiny - 'An adult version of LORD OF THE FLIES that is, moreover, entirely true' Evening StandardWhen the Dutch East Indiaman Batavia struck an uncharted reef off the new continent of Australia on her maiden voyage in 1629, 332 men, women and children were on board.
Jean-François De Galup, Comte De La Pérouse is second only to James Cook in his historical significance and was the major explorer of the Pacific in the eighteenth century.
The history of travel has long been constructed and described almost exclusively as a history of "e;European"e;, male mobility, without, however, explicitly making the gender and whiteness of the travellers a topic.
2020 Banff Mountain Book Competition Finalist in Mountain LiteratureRecounts some of the most dangerous feats in mountaineering historyInsights into the human attraction to danger and sufferingAward-winning authorWhile you wouldn t expect climbing an 8000-meter peak in winter to be a popular activity, there have been 178 expeditions (as of 2019) to the Himalaya and Karakoram during the cruelest season to do just that.