Incredible Journeys: Discovery, Adventure, Danger, Endurance PDF Download

Author: Levison Wood
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
ISBN: 9781444982367
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Embark on 20 epic expeditions alongside real-life explorer Levison Wood, from the Silk Road and medieval pilgrimages to the Holy Land to Nellie Bly's trip around the world, and recent missions to the Moon and the Mariana Trench. Along the way, Levison Wood shares his own insights into adventuring, telling you what it's REALLY like to follow in the footsteps of Alexander the Great. Beautifully illustrated with maps showing the routes and filled with detail bringing the cultures of each region to life, this is a book to treasure from one of our greatest living explorers. Perfect for budding explorers aged 9+.

Author: Scott Kelly
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 1524731609
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 439

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Book Description
NATIONAL BEST SELLER A stunning, personal memoir from the astronaut and modern-day hero who spent a record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station—a message of hope for the future that will inspire for generations to come. The veteran of four spaceflights and the American record holder for consecutive days spent in space, Scott Kelly has experienced things very few have. Now, he takes us inside a sphere utterly hostile to human life. He describes navigating the extreme challenge of long-term spaceflight, both life-threatening and mundane: the devastating effects on the body; the isolation from everyone he loves and the comforts of Earth; the catastrophic risks of colliding with space junk; and the still more haunting threat of being unable to help should tragedy strike at home--an agonizing situation Kelly faced when, on a previous mission, his twin brother's wife, American Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was shot while he still had two months in space. Kelly's humanity, compassion, humor, and determination resonate throughout, as he recalls his rough-and-tumble New Jersey childhood and the youthful inspiration that sparked his astounding career, and as he makes clear his belief that Mars will be the next, ultimately challenging, step in spaceflight. In Endurance, we see the triumph of the human imagination, the strength of the human will, and the infinite wonder of the galaxy.

Author: Levison Wood
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
ISBN: 0802190685
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 455

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Book Description
The explorer and author of Walking the Americas and Walking the Himalayas delivers “a bold travelogue, illuminating great swathes of modern Africa” (Kirkus Reviews). Starting in November 2013 in a forest in Rwanda—where a modest spring spouts a trickle of clear, cold water—writer, photographer, and explorer Levison Wood set forth on foot, aiming to become the first person to walk the entire length of the fabled river. He followed the Nile for nine months, over 4,000 miles, through six nations—Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, the Republic of Sudan, and Egypt—to the Mediterranean coast. Like his predecessors, Wood camped in the wild, foraged for food, and trudged through rainforest, swamp, savannah, and desert, enduring life-threatening conditions at every turn. He traversed sandstorms, flash floods, minefields, and more, becoming a local celebrity in Uganda, where a popular rap song was written about him, and a potential enemy of the state in South Sudan, where he found himself caught in a civil war and detained by the secret police. As well as recounting his triumphs, like escaping a charging hippo and staving off wild crocodiles, Wood’s gripping account recalls the loss of Matthew Power, a journalist who died suddenly from heat exhaustion during their trek. As Wood walks on, often joined by local guides who help him to navigate foreign languages and customs, Walking the Nile maps out African history and contemporary life. “Woods emerges as a dutiful and brave guide.”—Los Angeles Times “Many have attempted this holy grail of an expedition—so I admire Lev’s determination and courage to pull this off.”—Bear Grylls “A brilliant book.”—Financial Times

Author: F. A. Worsley
Publisher: Wakefield Press
ISBN: 9781862547759
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
This is the classic account of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914-1916 Antarctic expedition. Written by the captain of the Endurance, the ship used by Shackleton on this ill-fated journey, it is a remarkable tale of courage and bravery in the face of extreme odds and a vivid portrait of one of the world's greatest explorers. "A breathtaking story of courage under the most appalling conditions." - Edmund Hillary

Author: Buddy Levy
Publisher: Diversion Books
ISBN: 1635769205
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
The acclaimed author of Labyrinth of Ice charts the legendary sixteenth-century adventurer’s death-defying navigation of the Amazon River. In 1541, Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his lieutenant Francisco Orellana searched for La Canela, South America’s rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, “the golden man.” Quickly, the enormous expedition of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, and hunting dogs were decimated through disease, starvation, and attacks in the jungle. Hopelessly lost in the swampy labyrinth, Pizarro and Orellana made the fateful decision to separate. While Pizarro eventually returned home in rags, Orellana and fifty-seven men continued into the unknown reaches of the mighty Amazon jungle and river. Theirs would be the greater glory. Interweaving historical accounts with newly uncovered details, Levy reconstructs Orellana’s journey as the first European to navigate the world’s largest river. Every twist and turn of the powerful Amazon holds new wonders and the risk of death. Levy gives a long-overdue account of the Amazon’s people—some offering sustenance and guidance, others hostile, subjecting the invaders to gauntlets of unremitting attacks and signs of terrifying rituals. Violent and beautiful, noble and tragic, River of Darkness is riveting history and breathtaking adventure that will sweep readers on a voyage unlike any other. Praise for Buddy Levy and River of Darkness “In River of Darkness, Buddy Levy recounts Orellana’s headlong dash down the Amazon. Like Mr. Levy’s last book, Conquistador, about the conquest of Mexico, River of Darkness presents a fast-moving tale of triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds. . . . Though impromptu, the expedition was one of the most amazing adventures of all time.” —Wall Street Journal “An exciting, well-plotted excursion down the Amazon River with the early Spanish conquistador. . . . [A] richly textured account of the rogue, rebel and visionary whose discovery still resonates today.” —Kirkus Reviews “A rollicking adventure . . . Levy successfully conveys the Amazon’s power and majesty, while shedding light on the futility of humanity’s attempt to tame it.” —The A.V. Club

Author: David Roberts
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393089649
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
"Gripping and superb. This book will steal the night from you." —Laurence Gonzales, author of Deep Survival On January 17, 1913, alone and near starvation, Douglas Mawson, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, was hauling a sledge to get back to base camp. The dogs were gone. Now Mawson himself plunged through a snow bridge, dangling over an abyss by the sledge harness. A line of poetry gave him the will to haul himself back to the surface. Mawson was sometimes reduced to crawling, and one night he discovered that the soles of his feet had completely detached from the flesh beneath. On February 8, when he staggered back to base, his features unrecognizably skeletal, the first teammate to reach him blurted out, "Which one are you?" This thrilling and almost unbelievable account establishes Mawson in his rightful place as one of the greatest polar explorers and expedition leaders. It is illustrated by a trove of Frank Hurley’s famous Antarctic photographs, many never before published in the United States.

Author: Ben McGrath
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0451494016
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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“This quietly profound book belongs on the shelf next to Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild.” —The New York Times The riveting true story of Dick Conant, an American folk hero who, over the course of more than twenty years, canoed solo thousands of miles of American rivers—and then disappeared near the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This book “contains everything: adventure, mystery, travelogue, and unforgettable characters” (David Grann, best-selling author of Killers of the Flower Moon). For decades, Dick Conant paddled the rivers of America, covering the Mississippi, Yellowstone, Ohio, Hudson, as well as innumerable smaller tributaries. These solo excursions were epic feats of planning, perseverance, and physical courage. At the same time, Conant collected people wherever he went, creating a vast network of friends and acquaintances who would forever remember this brilliant and charming man even after a single meeting. Ben McGrath, a staff writer at The New Yorker, was one of those people. In 2014 he met Conant by chance just north of New York City as Conant paddled down the Hudson, headed for Florida. McGrath wrote a widely read article about their encounter, and when Conant's canoe washed up a few months later, without any sign of his body, McGrath set out to find the people whose lives Conant had touched--to capture a remarkable life lived far outside the staid confines of modern existence. Riverman is a moving portrait of a complex and fascinating man who was as troubled as he was charismatic, who struggled with mental illness and self-doubt, and was ultimately unable to fashion a stable life for himself; who traveled alone and yet thrived on connection and brought countless people together in his wake. It is also a portrait of an America we rarely see: a nation of unconventional characters, small river towns, and long-forgotten waterways.

Author: Alfred Lansing
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465058795
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Experience “one of the best adventure books ever written” (Wall Street Journal) in this New York Times bestseller: the harrowing tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole. In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance and set sail for Antarctica, where he planned to cross the last uncharted continent on foot. In January 1915, after battling its way through a thousand miles of pack ice and only a day's sail short of its destination, the Endurance became locked in an island of ice. Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men. When their ship was finally crushed between two ice floes, they attempted a near-impossible journey over 850 miles of the South Atlantic's heaviest seas to the closest outpost of civilization. In Endurance, the definitive account of Ernest Shackleton's fateful trip, Alfred Lansing brilliantly narrates the harrowing and miraculous voyage that has defined heroism for the modern age.

Author: Levison Wood
Publisher: Apollo
ISBN: 9781801102575
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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100 of the most astonishing stories of human survival, adventure and exploration, chosen by Levison Wood. We are always captivated by tales of courage and bravery, of world-firsts and death-defying experiences. In this anthology, explorer and bestselling author Levison Wood has gathered 100 of the most fascinating accounts of human endurance throughout history. From the heroism of Antarctic explorers to pioneering women in the Middle East; from record-breaking athletes to survivors of war and torture, this wide-ranging collection embraces both classics of the genre, as well as new and neglected voices. The extracts are organised around a range of themes; you will find those who sought out new frontiers, or who purposely tested their physical limits in full knowledge of the dangers or risks they might face, but also those who endured persecution and suffering, or were thrust into life or death situations yet defied the odds to survive. Endurance is packed full of you-couldn't-make-it-up true stories and adventure fiction classics, from the high seas to the poles, from inhospitable jungles and deserts to the unknown realms of space, through physical and mental despair to euphoric highs. Yet all of these extraordinary stories celebrate the enduring nature of the human spirit, and show the mental and physical determination it sometimes takes to achieve one's aims. This varied and compelling collection will take you on an adventure around the world, but also on an emotional journey exploring what it means to be human. Includes extracts about and by Ernest Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay, Amelia Earhart, Marie Colvin, John Krakauer, Solomon Northrup, Ella Maillart, Freya Stark, Ed Stafford, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Aron Lee Ralston, María Elena Moyano, Gertrude Bell, Isabelle Eberhart, Nellie Bly, Alex Honnold, Nelson Mandela, David Nott, Jules Verne, Neil Armstrong and Scott Kelly.

Author: Levison Wood
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316352411
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
Following his trek along the length of the Nile River, explorer Levison Wood takes on his greatest challenge yet: navigating the treacherous foothills of the Himalayas, the world's highest mountain range. Praised by Bear Grylls, Levison Wood has been called "the toughest man on TV" (The Times UK). Now, following in the footsteps of the great explorers, Levison recounts the beauty and danger he found along the Silk Road route of Afghanistan, the Line of Control between Pakistan and India, the disputed territories of Kashmir and the earth-quake ravaged lands of Nepal. Over the course of six months, Wood and his trusted guides trek 1,700 gruelling miles across the roof of the world. Packed with action and emotion, Walking the Himalayas is the story of one intrepid man's travels in a world poised on the edge of tremendous change.