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The Mammoth Book of Travel in Dangerous Places: West Africa (Mammoth Books #354)
by John KeayAlone in Africa - Mungo ParkPark's 1795-7 odyssey in search of the Niger first awakened the world to the feasibility of a white man penetrating sub-Saharan Africa. But unlike his illustrious successors, this quiet tenant farmer's son from the Scottish Borders travelled alone; relieved of his meager possessions, he was soon wholly dependant on local hospitality. In what he called "a plain unvarnished tale" he related horrific ordeals with admirable detachment - never more tested than on his return journey through Bamako, now the capital of Mali.The Road to Kano - Hugh ClappertonIn one of exploration's unhappier sagas two Scots, Captain Hugh Clapperton and Dr. Walter Oudney, were saddled with the unspeakable Major Dixon Denham on a three year journey to Lake Chad and beyond. Clapperton mapped much of northern Nigeria and emerged with credit. Major Denham also excelled himself, twice absconding, then accusing Oudney of incompetence and Clapperton of buggery. Happily the Major was absent in 1824, after nursing his dying friend, Clapperton became the first European to reach Kano.Down the Niger - Richard LanderAs Clapperton's manservant, Lander attended his dying master on his 1825 expedition to the Niger and was then commissioned, with his brother John, to continue the exploration of the river. The mystery of its lower course was finally solved when in 1831 they sailed down through Nigeria to the delta and the sea. Unassuming Cornishmen, the Landers approached their task with a refreshing confidence in goodwill of Africans. It paid of in a knife-edge encounter at the confluence of the Benoue, although Richard subsequently paid the price with his life.Arrival in Timbuktu - Heinrich BarthBorn in Hamburg, Barth was already an experienced traveler and a methodical scholar when in 1850 he joined a British expedition to investigate Africa's internal slave trade. From Tripoli the expedition crossed the Sahara to Lake Chad. Its leader died but Barth continued on alone, exploring vast tract of the Sahel from northern Cameroon to Mali. Timbuktu, previously visited only by A.G. Laing and René Caillié, provided the climax as Barth, in disguise, approached the forbidden city by boat from the Niger.My Ogowé Fans - Mary KingsleySelf-educated while she nursed her elderly parents, Mary Kingsley had known only middle-class English domesticity until venturing to West Africa in 1892. Her parents had died and, unmarried, she determined to study "fish and fetish" for the British Museum. Her 1894 ascent of Gabon's Ogowé River (from Travels in West Africa, 1897) established her a genuine pioneer and an inimitable narrator. She died six years later while nursing prisoners during the Boer War.
The Man Awakened from Dreams
by Andrew Shryock Nabeel Abraham Sally HowellIn this beautifully crafted study of one emblematic life, Harrison addresses large themes in Chinese history while conveying with great immediacy the textures and rhythms of everyday life in the countryside in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Liu Dapeng was a provincial degree-holder who never held government office. Through the story of his family, the author illustrates the decline of the countryside in relation to the cities as a result of modernization and the transformation of Confucian ideology as a result of these changes. Based on nearly 400 volumes of Liu's diary and other writings, the book illustrates what it was like to study in an academy and to be a schoolteacher, the pressures of changing family relationships, the daily grind of work in industry and agriculture, people's experience with government, and life under the Japanese occupation.
The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage
by Anthony BrandtAfter the triumphant end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the British took it upon themselves to complete something they had been trying to do since the sixteenth century: find the fabled Northwest Passage. For the next thirty-five years the British Admiralty sent out expedition after expedition to probe the ice-bound waters of the Canadian Arctic in search of a route, and then, after 1845, to find Sir John Franklin, the Royal Navy hero who led the last of these Admiralty expeditions. Enthralling and often harrowing, The Man Who Ate His Boots captures the glory and the folly of this ultimately tragic enterprise.From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Man Who Climbs Trees: The Lofty Adventures of a Wildlife Cameraman
by James Aldred&“A vertiginous, white-knuckled adventure through some of the most spectacular forests in the world.&” ?—Washington Post Meet the man who climbs trees for a living.? In this adventure memoir, Aldred carries us with him across the globe and up to the top of these towering forest titans as he recalls his most memorable encounters with trees and their inhabitants.? Every child knows the allure of climbing trees. But how many of us get to make a living at it, spending days observing nature from the canopies of stunning forests all around the world? As a wildlife cameraman for the BBC and National Geographic, James Aldred spends his working life high up in trees, poised to capture key moments in the lives of wild animals and birds. Aldred&’s climbs take him to the most incredible and majestic trees in existence. In Borneo, home to the tallest tropical rain forest on the planet, just getting a rope up into the 250-foot-tall trees is a challenge. In Venezuela, even body armor isn&’t guaranteed protection against the razor-sharp talons of a nesting Harpy Eagle. In Australia, the peace of being lulled to sleep in a hammock twenty-five stories above the ground— after a grueling day of climbing and filming—is broken by a midnight storm that threatens to topple the tree. In this vivid account of memorable trees he has climbed (&“Goliath,&” &“Apollo,&” &“Roaring Meg&”), Aldred blends incredible stories of his adventures in the branches with a fascination for the majesty of trees to show us the joy of rising—literally—above the daily grind, up into the canopy of the forest.
The Man Who Cycled the Americas
by Mark BeaumontIn 2008, Mark Beaumont smashed the world record for cycling around the world, by an astonishing 81 days. His race against the clock took him through the toughest terrain and the most demanding of conditions. In 2009, Mark set out on his second ultra-endurance challenge. And this one would involve some very big mountains.The Man Who Cycled the Americas tells the story of a 15,000 mile expedition that once again broke the barriers of human achievement. To pedal the longest mountain range on the planet, solo and unsupported, presented its own unique difficulties. But no man had ever previously summited the continents' two highest peaks, Mt McKinley in Alaska and Aconcagua in Argentina, in the same climbing season, let alone cycling between them. Oh, and Mark had never even been up Ben Nevis before.Full of his trademark charm, warmth and fascination with seeing the world at the pace of a bicycle, Mark Beaumont's second book is a testament to his love of adventure, his joy of taking on tough mental and physical feats, and offers a thrilling trip through the diverse cultures of the Americas.
The Man Who Loved Siberia
by Roy Jacobsen Anneliese PitzSiberia, to me, is a fairy-tale land.Fritz Dörries set out on his first trip to Eastern Siberia in 1877, when there were still blank spaces on maps of the world. Travelling alone or with his brothers, he climbed mountains, traversed great rivers, explored remote islands and crossed treacherous lakes of ice, always with one purpose: to augment man's knowledge of the natural world. Bears, tigers, vipers, bandits, stormy seas, frostbite, ice chasms fathoms deep - every danger was faced head on and overcome. And yet he remained defenceless against the charms of the landscape, and the animals, birds and butterflies he found there.Through his twenty-two years in Siberia, Dörries collected a wealth of essential material for scientific institutions, fundamental to our understanding of fauna and flora. This account of his adventures, set down for his daughters in his ninetieth year, and adapted for publication by Roy Jacobsen and Anneliese Pitz, is his second great legacy.Translated from the Norwegian by Seán Kinsella
The Man Who Loved Siberia
by Roy Jacobsen Anneliese PitzSiberia, to me, is a fairy-tale land.Fritz Dörries set out on his first trip to Eastern Siberia in 1877, when there were still blank spaces on maps of the world. Travelling alone or with his brothers, he climbed mountains, traversed great rivers, explored remote islands and crossed treacherous lakes of ice, always with one purpose: to augment man's knowledge of the natural world. Bears, tigers, vipers, bandits, stormy seas, frostbite, ice chasms fathoms deep - every danger was faced head on and overcome. And yet he remained defenceless against the charms of the landscape, and the animals, birds and butterflies he found there.Through his twenty-two years in Siberia, Dörries collected a wealth of essential material for scientific institutions, fundamental to our understanding of fauna and flora. This account of his adventures, set down for his daughters in his ninetieth year, and adapted for publication by Roy Jacobsen and Anneliese Pitz, is his second great legacy.Translated from the Norwegian by Seán Kinsella
The Man Who Rode His 10-Speed Bicycle to the Moon
by Bernard FischmanIf you remember the feel of riding your first really good bike, or in fact, doing anything really well, that's what this book is about. Anything that takes you beyond the humdrum, to a point where who knows what you could do, maybe even go to the moon. This story is about the things in life that help and hinder you in your aspirations, including friends, family, love, longing and trust. And if you happen to know and/or just like New York City, this is kind of a special tour.
The Man Who Swam the Amazon: 3,274 Miles Down the World's Deadliest River
by Martin Strel Matthew MohlkeIn April 2007, after 66 days, Martin Strel became the first person to swim the Amazon, 3,274 miles from the Peruvian Andes to the Atlantic shores of Brazil. On this extraordinary journey he dodged piranhas, met indigenous tribes and swam from dawn to dusk for 60 miles every single day. His story is an inspiration to people everywhere.
The Man Who Swam the Amazon: 3,274 Miles Down the World's Deadliest River
by Martin Strel Matthew MohlkeIn April 2007, after 66 days, Martin Strel became the first person to swim the Amazon, 3,274 miles from the Peruvian Andes to the Atlantic shores of Brazil. On this extraordinary journey he dodged piranhas, met indigenous tribes and swam from dawn to dusk for 60 miles every single day. His story is an inspiration to people everywhere.
The Man Who Walked Through Time
by Colin FletcherFletcher is the first man ever to walk the entire length of the Grand Canyon. This is the story of his journey, 2 months of struggle against heat and cold, lack of water, dwindling supplies, and almost impassable terrain. But more than a mere adventure story, this is also a spiritual odyssey during which one man began to understand mankind's unique place in the vastness of nature.
The Man Who Walked Through Time
by Colin FletcherThe remarkable classic of nature writing by the first man ever to have walked the entire length of the Grand Canyon.
The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan
by Ben MacintyreThe untold story of the nineteenth-century American Quaker who tried to build a kingdom in Afghanistan: “A thrilling real-life yarn.” —BooklistIn the year 1838, a young adventurer, surrounded by his native troops and mounted on an elephant, raised the American flag on the summit of the Hindu Kush in the mountainous wilds of Afghanistan. He declared himself Prince of Ghor, Lord of the Hazarahs, spiritual and military heir to Alexander the Great.The true story of Josiah Harlan, a Pennsylvania Quaker and the first American ever to enter Afghanistan, has never been told before, yet the life and writings of this extraordinary man echo down the centuries. This “riveting, scrupulously researched” book reveals the full history behind the renowned Rudyard Kipling short story and John Huston’s film classic (The New York Times Book Review).“One of the most remarkable discoveries in the history of biography.” —The New York Review of Books“Macintyre recounts Harlan’s travels with dispatch, and draws on unpublished journals to let his subject’s voice seep through.” —The New Yorker“Here is a writer who seems as taken as I am with crackpottery, delusion, grandiosity, chicanery, and impersonation, but who manages to write about it all with amused restraint, without, that is, the air of the ogler.” —The Boston Globe“Macintyre gives readers both Harlan’s story and a thought-provoking perspective on the history of superpower intervention in Afghanistan . . . Harlan’s story alone is fascinating, but its resonance with modern-day struggles—Harlan urging the British to try ‘fiscal diplomacy’ (i.e., gold) instead of ‘invading and subjugating an unoffending people’—makes it compelling.” —Publishers Weekly
The Man Within My Head
by Pico IyerWe all carry people inside our heads--actors, leaders, writers, people out of history or fiction, met or unmet, who sometimes seem closer to us than people we know. In The Man Within My Head, Pico Iyer sets out to unravel the mysterious closeness he has always felt with the English writer Graham Greene; he examines Greene's obsessions, his elusiveness, his penchant for mystery. Iyer follows Greene's trail from his first novel, The Man Within, to such later classics as The Quiet American and begins to unpack all he has in common with Greene: an English public school education, a lifelong restlessness and refusal to make a home anywhere, a fascination with the complications of faith. The deeper Iyer plunges into their haunted kinship, the more he begins to wonder whether the man within his head is not Greene but his own father, or perhaps some more shadowy aspect of himself. Drawing upon experiences across the globe, from Cuba to Bhutan, and moving, as Greene would, from Sri Lanka in war to intimate moments of introspection; trying to make sense of his own past, commuting between the cloisters of a fifteenth-century boarding school and California in the 1960s, one of our most resourceful explorers of crossing cultures gives us his most personal and revelatory book.
The Man and His Bike: Musings on life and the art of cycling
by Wilfried de JongThe world as seen from a bike'Understated, comic and melancholic... It’ll inspire you to get back on your bike.' Martin Love, The Guardian‘One of the most entertaining sports books I have ever read’ Joe Short, The Daily ExpressIn this award-winning collection of cycling tales, Wilfried de Jong uncovers the true soul of cycling – why we do it, why we watch it, why we hate it, why we love it – stripped bare.With his distinctly comic and melancholic charm Wilfried ponders life, love and death on his trusted bike, chasing the essence of our existence against the backdrop of major cycling events or while roaming alone in nature. Whether he is describing being ejected from Paris-Roubaix, a terminal incident with a bird while out riding, or explaining why he is standing stark naked on Belgian cobbles with a tyre in his hand, Wilfried unlocks a sport that involves so much pain, punishment, and a high probability of failure, but that will always liberate and inspire us.
The Management of Insects in Recreation and Tourism
by Raynald Harvey LemelinInsects such as cockroaches, mosquitoes and bed-bugs are usually not highly sought amongst travellers or recreationists, yet each year, collectors, butterfly enthusiasts, dragonfly-hunters and apiarists collect, visit, document and raise insects for recreational purposes. Illustrating a range of human-insect encounters from an interdisciplinary perspective, this book provides the first insight into the booming industry of insect recreation. Case studies and examples demonstrate the appeal of insects, ranging from the captivating beauty of butterflies to the curious fascination of locust swarms, and challenge the notion that animals lacking anthropomorphic features hold little or no interest for humans. Throughout the book, the emphasis is on the innovators, the educators, the dedicated researchers and activists who, through collaboration across fields ranging from entomology to sociology and anthropology, have brought insects from the recreational fringes to the forefront of many conservation and leisure initiatives.
The Management of International Tourism (Routledge Library Editions: Tourism)
by Peter J. Buckley Stephen F Witt Michael Z BrookeInternational tourism is one of today’s major growth industries necessitating increasingly more sophisticated management techniques. In the light of this expansion and growing significant economic importance, this book provides a comprehensive overview of international tourism, placing particular emphasis on the management of tourism. The subject coverage of the book is wide-ranging: the authors examine the following issues: the impact of environmental issues on tourism management tourism demand and forecasting the key methods of operation of companies within the industry the functional areas of marketing, finance, organization and staffing research and innovation corporate strategy. The book will be of value and interest to both students and academics, as well as managers in the fields of tourism, travel, hospitality and consultancy.
The Mango Orchard: The extraordinary true story of a family lost and found
by Robin BayleyAs a child, Robin Bayley was enchanted by his grandmother's stories of Mexican adventures: of bandits, wild jungle journeys, hidden bags of silver and a narrow escape from the bloody Mexican Revolution. But Robin sensed there was more to these stories than anyone knew, and so he set out to follow in the footsteps of his great-grandfather. The Mango Orchard is the story of parallel journeys, a hundred years apart, into the heart of Latin America. Undaunted by the passage of time and a paucity of information, Robin seeks out the places where his great-grandfather Arthur 'Arturo' Greenhalgh travelled and lived, determined to uncover his legacy. Along the road Robin encounters witches, drug dealers, a gun-toting Tasmanian Devil and an ex-Nazi diamond trader. He is threatened with deportation, offered the protection of Colombian guerrilla fighters and is comforted by the blessings of los santos. He falls in love with a beautiful Guatemalan girl with mystical powers and almost gives up his quest, until a sense of destiny drives him on to western Mexico and the discovery of much, much more than he had bargained for.
The Many Voices of Pilgrimage and Reconciliation
by Ian S. McIntosh Lesley D. HarmanReviewing peace and reconciliation, secular pilgrimages, and international perspectives on sacred journeys, this book offers the reader an opportunity to encounter multiple voices and viewpoints on one of the most ancient practices of humankind. With an estimated third of all international travellers now undertaking journeys anticipating an aspect of transformation (the hallmark of pilgrimage), this book includes both spiritual and non-spiritual voyages, such as journeys of self-therapy, mindfulness and personal growth. It also: - Provides a multidisciplinary perspective, covering themes such as gender, human rights, equality, the environment, peace, history, literature, and politics - Reflects the rich diversity and multiple meanings of pilgrimage through an international writer team spanning four continents - Includes case studies of pilgrimage in action from around the world An innovative and engaging addition to the pilgrimage literature, this book provides an important resource for researchers of religious tourism and related subjects.
The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale Of Love, Murder, And Survival In The Amazon
by Robert WhitakerIn 1735 a team of French scientists set out on a daring expedition into the South American wilderness to resolve one of the great scientific challenges of the time: the precise size and shape of the Earth. Scaling the Andes and journeying along the Amazon, the mapmakers faced all manner of danger, while madness, disease and violent death each took their toll. However one, Jean Godin, fell in love with a local girl called Isabel Grameson. When the time came for the expedition to return to France, Godin travelled ahead to ensure the way was safe for his new family. But on reaching French Guiana, disaster struck: Spain and Portugal closed their borders and he was stranded, unable to return to Isabel. What followed lies at the core of this extraordinary tale - a heartbreaking 20-year separation that ended when Isabel, believing she might never see her husband again, decided to make her own way across the continent: a journey that began in hope but became hell on earth. . . Drawing on his own experience retracing Isabel's epic trek as well as contemporary records, Robert Whitaker recounts a captivating true story of love and survival set against the backdrop of what many still regard as 'the greatest expedition the world has ever known'.
The Marches: A Borderland Journey Between England and Scotland
by Rory StewartFrom a member of Parliament and best-selling author of The Places in Between, an exploration of the Marches—the borderland between England and Scotland—and the political turmoil and vivid lives that created it.In The Places in Between, Rory Stewart walked some of the most dangerous borderlands in the world. Now he travels with his eighty-nine-year-old father—a comical, wily, courageous, and infuriating former British intelligence officer—along the border they call home.On Stewart’s four-hundred-mile walk across a magnificent natural landscape, he sleeps on mountain ridges and in housing projects, in hostels and farmhouses. With every fresh encounter—from an Afghanistan veteran based on Hadrian’s Wall to a shepherd who still counts his flock in sixth-century words—Stewart uncovers more about the forgotten peoples and languages of a vanished country, now crushed between England and Scotland.Stewart and his father are drawn into unsettling reflections on landscape, their parallel careers in the bygone British Empire and Iraq, and the past, present, and uncertain future of the United Kingdom. This is a profound reflection on family, landscape, and history by a powerful and original writer.“An unforgettable tale.” — National Geographic“The miracle of The Marches is not so much the treks Stewart describes, pulling in all possible relevant history, as the monument that emerges to his beloved father.” — New York Times Book Review
The Marseille Caper
by Peter MayleLovable rogue and sleuth extraordinaire Sam Levitt is back in another beguiling, as-only-Peter-Mayle-can-write-it romp through the South of France. At the end of The Vintage Caper, Sam had just carried off a staggering feat of derring-do in the heart of Bordeaux, infiltrating the ranks of the French elite to rescue a stolen, priceless wine collection. With the questionable legality of the adventure--and the threat of some very powerful enemies!--Sam thought it'd be a while before he returned to France, especially with the charms of the beautiful Elena Morales to keep him in Los Angeles. But when the immensely wealthy Francis Reboul--the victim of Sam's last heist but someone who knows talent when he sees it--asks our hero to take a job in Marseille, it's impossible for Sam and Elena to resist the possibility of further excitement . . . to say nothing of the pleasures of the region. Soon the two are enjoying the coastal sunshine and the delectable food and wine for which Marseille is known. Yet as a competition over Marseille's valuable waterfront grows more hotly disputed, Sam, representing Reboul, finds himself in the middle of an increasingly intrigue-ridden and dangerous real-estate grab, with thuggish gangsters on one side and sharklike developers on the other. Will Sam survive this caper unscathed? Will he live to enjoy another bowl of bouillabaisse? All will be revealed--with luck, savvy, and a lot of help from Sam's friends--in the novel's wonderfully satisfying climax.
The Marsh Arabs
by Wilfred Thesiger Jon Lee AndersonDuring the years he spent among the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq-long before they were almost completely wiped out by Saddam Hussein-Wilfred Thesiger came to understand, admire, and share a way of life that had endured for many centuries. Traveling from village to village by canoe, he won acceptance by dispensing medicine and treating the sick. In this account of a nearly lost civilization, he pays tribute to the hospitality, loyalty, courage, and endurance of the people, and describes their impressive reed houses, the waterways and lakes teeming with wildlife, the herding of buffalo and hunting of wild boar, moments of tragedy, and moments of pure comedy in vivid, engaging detail.