Adventure & Exploration

A wonderful book; meticulously researched, yet compulsively readable.

Brings you from Victorian England to the jungles of the Africa in search of Europe's first glimpse at the gorilla. An absolutely true story of an adventure that demonstrates the biting world of science in the Victorian era. Sound boring? Not even a little: included in this adventure are Queen Victoria, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, the wild uncharted land of the Africa, wildlife never seen before, many native African tribes and even a large group of "cannibals".

I loved this story, and it inspired me to read Darwin's work again and other writings of the time. It seems that being a great scientist in Victorian times could make you as famous as being a Hollywood actor during the golden age of film. Unfortunately it was just as cut throat and competitive and FULL OF CONTROVERSY.

The story of the young French Explorer, Paul Du Chaillou and all he accomplished is truly extraordinary.

If you believe in creationism vs evolution, this might not be the book for you. Though it does deal with the struggle for many that age, including prominent scientists, to find god in the many archeological and biological findings of the time that completely contradicts the biblical belief of creation.

My god! What a tragic story! This is the story of most well-known tragediy on Everest in my living memory: the 1996 Everest attempts.
Jon Krakauer was is a magazine journalist and an author of many excellent books. His story on Pat Tillman is fascinating, and his book Under the Banner of Heaven is a favorite of mine. Into The Wild received so much fan and critical success that they made a movie.

This book is if different, though. He was on one of the two ill-fated expeditions that shared a common fate. An amazing story told by the author. I never really like to listen to the author read, but it definitely works here!

Because Jon Krakauer wrote this only 6 months after the disaster, it has an intensity that is rare. Krakauer was dealing with a tremendous amount of survival guilt. I only hope he is me a man at peace.

A must read!!

Extraordinary book by Candace Millard! Beautifully told and well documented. Great performance by Paul Michael.

A book about the most dangerous of expeditions.