Explorer Memoirs

He's climbed Everest not long after a heart bypass operation, he's run seven marathons on seven continents, he's hauled loaded sledges across both polar ice caps and he's circumnavigated the earth. Ran Fiennes truly is the world's greatest explorer, and this book celebrates his 80th birthday by showcasing his greatest achievements in his own words.

A fourth-generation fisherman, Jake Anderson, grew up in the rich fishing environment of Anacortes, Washington. At age 17, Jake began salmon fishing in Bristol Bay, Alaska, and by the age of 25 he was crab fishing in the Bering Sea. Soon after, Jake became a deckhand on the F/V Northwestern and joined the popular television series Deadliest Catch. Aside from fishing, Jake has a harrowing story that has yet to be told. As an avid skateboarder, Jake aspired to become a professional until he was sidelined by injury, addiction, and homelessness.

En 1968, le Sunday Times décide d'organiser la première régate en solitaire et sans escale, en doublant les trois caps : Bonne-Espérance, Leewin et Horn. Seul entre mers et ciels, il relate dans son journal de bord ses dix mois sans toucher terre, sa vie au quotidien sur le Joshua, les dauphins, les poissons volants et les étoiles. Entre ciels et mers, l'exploit sportif se transforme peu à peu en un voyage intérieur. Se pose alors cette question folle : a-t-il envie de retrouver la société des Hommes ?

A member of the first astronaut class to include women, NASA chose her for the seventh shuttle mission, inspiring several generations of women. After a second flight, Ride served on the panels investigating the Challenger explosion and the Columbia disintegration that killed all aboard. In both instances, she faulted NASA's rush to meet mission deadlines and its organizational failures. She also cofounded a company promoting science and education for children, especially girls.

Join Gordon Alexander in Nepal as he drags his "heavy ass" over the Himalayas in this hilarious, adventure-soaked account of the Three Passes Trek, culminating in a visit to Everest Base Camp. Together with guide Subash and porter Nima, Gordon tackles high passes in excess of 5,400 meters (17,700 feet) and explains how high altitude affects a mildly overweight road builder from sea level in the tropics. Each part of the journey brings new challenges, including sub-freezing temperatures, almost falling into a crevasse, and alarmingly warm beer.

Freeman Dyson is a world-renowned astrophysicist who dreams of exploring the heavens and has designed a spaceship to take him there. His son, George, a brilliant high-school dropout, lives in a tree house and is designing a giant kayak to explore the icy coastal wilderness of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

À 105 ans, Woodrow Wilson Nickel sait qu’il sera le prochain à s’éteindre dans l’hôpital de vétérans où il vit. Mais il ne s’attendait pas à apprendre que les dernières girafes encore sur Terre risquent de disparaître avant lui. Car près de 90 ans plus tôt, le jeune Woody s’est lié d’amitié avec deux girafes rescapées, comme lui, du grand ouragan de Nouvelle-Angleterre de 1938. Ingénieux et sans attaches, il est devenu le chauffeur du convoi improvisé qui transporta ces surprenants mammifères à travers l’Amérique de la Grande Dépression jusqu’au zoo de San Diego en Californie.

For generations, we've been taught to fear the cold.... And while there are consequences to extreme cold exposure, with proper training, anyone can thrive in the cold and learn the lessons it has to teach

For Allena Hansen, a vicious bear attack was "no biggie" compared to the trauma inflicted by her refined '60s upbringing, her stint as Playboy's token intellectual bimbo, and her cowgirl angst, which is enough to knock even Job for a loop.

The Last Englishman is an extraordinary travel memoir by an experienced long-distance hiker. If you believe there’s more to life than work, yearn for new horizons and challenges, and believe in overcoming adversity, then you’ll love Keith Foskett’s tale of exploration.

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. He has been an elite soldier, an athlete, a mountaineer, an explorer, a bestselling author, and nearly replaced Sean Connery as James Bond.

Esteemed Harvard University historian and Associate Fellow Kathleen Dalton has been studying Theodore Roosevelt since 1975. This authoritative work, incorporating the latest scholarship, paints a compelling portrait of the president in all his robust glory.

This book is an autobiography of my life that I spent as an addict, leading to my demise and ending up on the street for 3 years. Going through all the hardships that you hear about but never ever knowing what really goes on out there, and finally getting clean and staying clean with a whole new outlook on life.

Imagine living in Italy for one full year. This was always the dream and promise Ilene and Gary made to each other. This story is an invitation to witness the magic of Italy through the eyes of two new Italian citizens. Listen to their own authentic voices, in alternating chapter format, sharing their story, raw emotions, laughter, triumphs, challenges, and experiences in this intimate format.

In The Last of His Kind, renowned adventure writer David Roberts gives readers a spellbinding history of mountain climbing in the twentieth century as told through the biography of Brad Washburn, legendary mountaineering pioneer and photographer. Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air, has praised David Roberts, saying, “Nobody alive writes better about mountaineering” - and nowhere is that truth more evident than in this breathtaking account of the life and exploits of America’s greatest mountain climber.

Lessons about embracing the miracles of life, based on a story of how Brody Young survived being shot nine times and severely wounded by a man while on patrol as a park ranger in a remote canyon in Utah one night. After many months, he recovered from his wounds and returned to work, forever changed by his near-death experience. How Young reacted in the face of life-threatening danger takes on heightened meaning when we learn how he decided to respond to the miracles that followed.

River Magic: Tales from a Life on 1000 Rivers takes the listener on an amazing global adventure by river. Mark Angelo, one of the world's most acclaimed paddlers and river conservationists, who has paddled more rivers than perhaps anyone on Earth, recounts a selection of his encounters with amazing animals, big fish, unique cultures, and wild rivers.

Throughout my travels, I have encountered cultural mishaps, unexpected dangers, and discovered romance in the most surprising places. Join me and experience every twist and turn through the eyes of a curious explorer. Let’s chase the extraordinary, together.

We all know that at some point in life, we will experience pain, uncertainty and loss. Widowhood, redundancy, a life-changing diagnosis, pregnancy loss, or a global pandemic. So how can we weather the storms, and cope with whatever comes next? No one can answer this better than Lucy Easthope, an emergency planner whose job is to support survivors of major disasters. She has been there after countless earthquakes, fires and floods. Time and again she has watched how people rebuild: the work, the pitfalls and the fragile joy.

Cândido Rondon is by any measure the greatest tropical explorer in history. Between 1890 and 1930, he navigated scores of previously unmapped rivers, traversed untrodden mountain ranges, and hacked his way through jungles so inhospitable that even native peoples had avoided them—and led Theodore Roosevelt and his son, Kermit, on their celebrated "River of Doubt" journey in 1913-14. Originally published in Brazil, Into the Amazon is the first comprehensive biography of the Indigenous Brazilian explorer, scientist, stateseman, and conservationist.