Explorers: Great Tales of Adventure and Endurance

by Alasdair MacLeod, Richard Gilbert (Editor), Deirdre Headon (Editor)

This is an epic visual guide to the most intrepid explorers in history. Written in association with the Royal Geographical Society, "Explorers" brings you stories of great courage, spirit and endurance and opens your eyes to how these expeditions have shaped the course of human history. Set out into the unknown with more than 80 of the world's greatest explorers from across nations and throughout history and discover what motivated them to risk everything in pursuit of discovery. With a foreword by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, undoubtedly one of the greatest living explorers, and an introduction from Michael Palin, President of the RGS, "Explorers" features the personal stories and first hand accounts of the people whose courage opened frontiers, turned voids into maps, connected cultures and added to humankind's knowledge of the world. Featuring exclusive, never-before-seen photography from the RGS archive, rare maps and specially-commissioned artworks, "Explorers" will appeal to all those who love the thrill of travel and exploration and want to experience the triumphs and tragedies of real-life adventure.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference, Adventure

360 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderfully illustrated coffee table book, chockablock full of interesting tidbits. Made a decent effort at including the stories of many peoples and cultures, and including the ugly truths of many of the Western "heroes".

[MK · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a history of the adventures of mankind from ancient civilizations to the present day.

From Egyptian to Greek civilization, theater, architecture, and storytelling developed, showing
how the quality of human life improved.

After that, the Silk Road was opened, and trade and diplomacy between East and West became active. International trade at the time was particularly valuable in goods such as gold, spices, jewelry, and slaves, and military expeditions were conducted.

There are certain patterns in the purpose and behavior of humans on adventures.

When they found new lands, they inculcated religion and new thoughts, and traditional culture, customs, the way of thinking were all gone.

Once adventurers succeeded in changing local attitudes, they colonized the country and gained advantages in trade and diplomacy.

[Laurent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where should I start? This book got more information than I will ever need, If only I would have used this in my history essays. Some of this information is not even found on wikipedia and if it is, its hidden between a paragraph of not-needed info. It talks about all kids of explorers not just the known ones from all centuries. I learned about so many new people and there important role in history. In myy opinion history should also focus on the smaller explorers, I noticed that without them the bigger explorers couldn't even set a foot into their trip!

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although you can't tell from the cover, this is a part of the DK series of coffee table books that also includes such titles as Commanders, Battle, Warrior, and Way of the Warrior -- and is an excellent addition. As with the other titles, all found at B&N on the Bargain racks -- and great bargains they are!

[Eric Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't really a horrendously bad book, just not a very good one (hence the "it was ok" rating). Most explorers got two, maybe three pages each. This book also doubles as a general history of exploring through a series of mini biographies. Personally, I'd prefer books that concentrate on individual explorers or the exploration of a particular area.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really conveys the depth and diversity of exploration. Fun to look thru a thumb through book for me.