Book Description

In 1766, Samuel Hearne, at just twenty-one and already a veteran of the Seven Years' War, joined the Hudson's Bay Company, which charged him with the unwieldy task of finding first a famed and long-lost copper mine-and then the great Northwest Passage. Braving treacherous weather, serious injury, and devastating hunger, Hearne traveled more than thirty-five hundred miles, much of it with the help of legendary Indian chief Matonabbee, to become the first European ever to arrive at North America's Arctic coast. During his harrowing three-year quest, he fell in love with a young settler, observed the infamous massacre at "Bloody Falls," and kept a meticulous account of his experiences-the first book ever published on the Arctic. McGoogan recounts these and many other spectacular and historic events in his characteristically enthusiastic voice, and even argues convincingly that Hearne's chance encounter with Samuel Taylor Coleridge inspired the great poet to compose his epic work. Ancient Mariner is illustrated throughout, and maps are also featured. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Truth is more amazing than fiction
This book by Ken McGoogan recalls Peter C. Newman's fascinating books about the Hudson's Bay Company: Caesars of the Wilderness and The Company Adventurers. I think that schoolchildren should be reading these books rather than dry old history tomes. And, if all you have read are these history textbooks, then I suggest you give yourself a chance to revisit these amazing explorers.The story of Samuel Hearne is magnificently told by Ken McGoogan and it will have you thirsting for more stories of the amazing men and women (yes, women!) who lived, fought, loved in a cruel land. It was a book I could not put down.

A stroll in the woods
Exploration stories often focus on the tropics.David Livingstone, Albert Russel Wallace, Richard Burton and others are readily recalled.The polar quests of Amundsen, Cook, Peary and Byrd probably follow in popularity.The upper latitudes seem almost overlooked.With little land mass approaching Antarctica and its pole, Canada and Russia are left for investigation by the enquiring mind.Having offered the life of one such wanderer in John Rae, McGoogan now reaches further back in time and place to reveal the life of Samuel Hearne.It's a fine study of a dedicated man.

McGoogan's lively narrative traces Hearne's Royal Navy career, then follows him to the Hudson's Bay Company [HBC] station of Prince of Wales Fort.With the Canadian Arctic still a terra incognita, various quests were under consideration - the Northwest Passage and/or an inland sea leading to Asia being prime contenders.A more specific ambition arose with indications of a vast copper resource near the Arctic Sea.Hearne pursued this rumour by trekking across the Canadian tundra to find it.Various interludes occurred along the way.

Hearne's expeditions to the Arctic seem pre-ordained to failure.Having but a hazy notion of what confronted him wasn't a hindrance.Bureaucracy proved the more serious impediment.The British attitude toward indigenous peoples compounded faulty notions of requirements for such a trip.With no idea of how Native Peoples? societies were structured, British HBC agents blundered into one crisis after another.In today's world, for a man to suggest that women must accompany the expedition to perform specialised tasks would bring down the wrath of the Human Rights Commission.In the 18th Century rise of the HBC in Canada women performed essential roles.No Native Peoples? women meant no Native Peoples? men.No men, no expedition.McGoogan explains all these circumstances without apology or condemnation.It's a professional historian's approach, worthy of full praise.

The other aspect of British imperialism's shortsighted view is the relationships among Canada's Native Peoples.Hearne and others would counsel peace to those who had been warring when the British still painted themselves blue.These animosities were not easily quelled and might break out without warning nor discernible reason.Hearne was confronted with this near the mouth of the Coppermine River.McGoogan, relying on Hearne's own account, describes the massacre of an Inuit settlement leading to the naming of "Bloody Falls".The event remained fixed in Hearne's memory for the remainder of his life.

Hearne, seeking an ephemeral copper lode, traversed immense stretches of the Canadian North.With various teams, but particularly relying on a Dene negotiator, Matonabbee, Hearne viewed the Arctic Ocean, the first European to reach it overland.The copper wasn't there, nor, in Hearne's opinion, was there any possibility of a Northwest Passage.He saw the Great Slave Lake, but when he later reported on his journey, skeptics were confounded by how far west it lay.Canada's vastness overwhelmed chair-bounded geographers.Hearne wasn't simply seeking mineral wealth.He recorded copious observations on plant and animal life in the region, as well as collecting information on the native peoples.More than just an adventurer, Hearne is credited by McGoogan as being one of earliest naturalists.

Hearne's return to England was less than satisfactory.An account of his travels netted him not a penny - he died before publication.One event, a likely meeting with Coleridge at a boy's school, may have led Hearne to become the source of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner.While the notion is McGoogan's speculative idea, it's plausible enough to be valid.It certainly provided a good, if unexpected, title for the life of an Arctic explorer.McGoogan presents that life vividly, with only minor, forgiveable, embellishments.[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada] ... Read more

Amazon.com

Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Anglo-Irish explorer, never achieved his goal of reaching the South Pole, though he was knighted in 1909 for having come within 100 miles. With bravery matched only by his theatricality, Shackleton sought to top that accomplishment by landing on one side of Antarctica and traveling the width of the icy continent by sledge. What might have been a great exploratory journey turned into a raw struggle for survival when his ship became trapped in pack ice, and he was forced to lead his team on a desperate trek across hundreds of miles of the world's most dangerous terrain. He made it home, but even his stature as one of Edwardian England's greatest heroes could not save Shackleton from financial risk taking; he ended his life mired in debt. Roland Huntford's biography presents a balanced and lively portrait of a man who was, depending on which of his contemporaries you asked, a national hero or a contemptible rogue. --Robert McNamara ... Read more

Reviews (21)

"This is a man's man!"
I first read of Shackleton in National Geographic. That only whetted my appetite to hear his entire exruciating journey. Roland's biography took me two months to read, but it was worth it.

I will never forget Ernest Shackleton. From "Shackleton" I leaned about leadership, the power of hope, optimism, human relationships; the power of dreams, perseverance. You will learn more from "Shackleton" in two months than you will from a lifetime of MBA professors.

Shackleton's antarctic journeys are the most engaging tales of survival, endurance and human pressure that I have ever read. Can you image yourself crossing 1,000 miles of frigid south Atlantic seas in a 20 foot boat, with 3 men, a box of matches, a pulpy map, a Victorian compass, and insufficient water in order to save the lives of 50 men who are in an even worse predicament! He did all that and more.

If you like real life stories of survival and adventure, you will enjoy this book to no end.

A leader of men
A page-turner of a biography--even at almost 800 pages! Huntford looks for the clues that made Shackleton the non-pareil leader of men in the direst circumstances, the leader who brought all of his shipmates home alive after being trapped for a year on the ice in the Antarctic, then making landfall in three open boats, then taking one of the boats and sailing 800 miles across the stormiest waters in the world to South Georgia Island, then hiking over the uncharted middle of the island to reach civilization. Even as he recounts Shackleton's checkered life, he takes time to mercilessly deride British Anarctic exploration in general for its incompetence and lack of preparation, and to contrast the small-mindedness and fatalism of Robert Falcon Scott with the keen survival instincts and larger than life qualities of Ernest Shackleton. It's a riveting read.

A super hero; A colossal failure.
Biographer Roland Huntford has combined extensive research and superb story telling into an amazing tale of a most contradictory figure of Edwardian England. At the turn of the 20th century, Ernest Shackleton was one of the heroes of the British Empire. But, by the time of his death, in 1922, he was quickly on his way to becoming a forgotten man. What is most surprising is that he became a hero at all, because he accomplished nothing that he set out to do, and his life was a personal and financial failure. And most of it was his fault. His first Antarctic sojourn to the South Pole was with his later rival Captain Robert Scott. Scott and his fellow explorers had to carry/drag Shackleton much of the way home without them coming close to reaching their goal. His second assult on the South Pole he led himself, but was forced to abandon his quest with only 100 miles to go. Before Shackleton could make his next attempt, Scott reach the South Pole, but died before he could return. So, Shackleton's next venture to make a name for himself was to walk across Antarctica. Before he could begin his cross-continent trek, his ship, the Endurance, was caught in the ice and crushed. Shackleton and his band of hapless men fought bitter cold, starvation, trecherous seas, etc., as they fought to survive. Yet, without having accomplished his goals he became a hero, because he was an adventurer that never gave up, and that met the criteria of that time. However, the reason he was mostly unsuccessful was because he refused to accept the proven methods of ice exploration. He wouldn't consider using skis or dogs, ways that had previously been proven to be successful and most historians now believe would have made the difference between his success and failure. He believed in little or no preparation. He struggled with horses and motorized vehichles, methods that had already been proven disatorous. But, he struggled on, and that made him a hero in his country's eyes. Another factor Shack pointed to with pride: he never lost the life of any of his fellow explorers. But, in fact, he lost several memebers of a seperate supply party, again because of lack of preparation for which he was responsible. Also, in the diaries his men kept, he was constantly praised for his strength and attitude. However, these must be regared with a jaundiced eye, because - by contract - all diaries had to be turned over to Shackleton at the end of each voyage. Yet, proper due must be given, for it would be easy to understand why Shackleton could have given up at numerous occasions and just laid down and died. But he persevered, and brought his men back with him. In addition to his continuous failures as an explorer, Shackleton was an adulturer, left his wife and children at the financial mercy of others (even his mistress), constantly chased financial windfalls which never had a chance of success, died 40,000 pounds in debt, ostrasized himself from his family, was a heavy drinker, in fact, pretty much a cad. He failed to fulfil his writing and lecture committements. He didn't pay most of the men who risked their life in his employ. As author Huntford sums up his life: "Mental sloth was Shackleton's fatal flaw." It was the World War that showed Brits what heros really were, and brought about their almost immediate lack of interest in this hapless and hopeless wanderer. So, why should we care about this man and devote the time to read this almost 700 page book? Because Huntford has written such a brilliant biography that places us at death's door, in violent conditions, against tremendous odds and then gives us the joy of overcoming. Huntford delves interestingly and deeply into the rivalries of the explorers of the day and into the fascinating personalities of the men who went with Shackleton. We get it, warts and all. A first class biography with very helpful maps and dozens of great pictures.

A rambling account of the great explorer
Shackletons life was one tragedy after another. Sir Ernest failed to beat Amundsun to the South Pole and his previous voyages were blocked by ice flows and lack of ability to exceed his 'furthest south' point. The goal of his final voyage was to cross Antarctica, a feat that had never been accomplished. Setting out during the outbreak of the Great War his ship, the Endurance, became stranded in the ice. For more then a year his ship floated in the ice pack and was finally destroyed at which time his men marched over land and finally took to boats to paddle towards S. Georgia. His tale was one of survival against all odds and should make for an exciting biography.

Unfortunately this book combines far to many diary entries from the various participants and in the end it reads like a rambling account without order or organization. Although the many entries are chronological the author refuses to tie them together, leaving it to the reader to page through the ramblings of Shackleton himself and his men. It would have been simply better to publish the diaries in their entirety. This book, although a decent account, is simply hard to follow at its climax, when the men are stranded on the ice pack. It does not do Shackleton justice

Complete Your Knowledge
This is a fabulous addition to the Endurance myth. In the last several years Shackleton has gone through a bit of a revival with a big movie and release of several books. This biography of the man himself is a must read for anybody looking to get at the reasons for why a man would trek out into the dark, lonely, uncharted waters of the Antarctic. Perhaps the vougue comes to us as we look around to find our own uncharted lands and discover we have very little of it left. This is a life that literally could not be led in todays world of Global Positioning and Gortex. It brings to mind the question of the next great frontiers, the mind, space or underseas adventure all could be next. To match Shackleton one would have to build the rocket ship themselves out of duct tape and soda cans and somehow save his crew from aliens in the meantime. All the while Shackleton never really lets on that the true mission is to become a hero at any cost. Truly inspirational. ... Read more

Book Description

There have been many "firsts" in Jim Whittaker's life. He was the first North American to summit Mount Everest. As the first manager and employee, and ultimately the CEO, of fledgling Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), he guided the company through years of record-setting growth. He guided Bobby Kennedy up the newly named Mount Kennedy,helping him to become the first person to summit the Canadian peak. He led the historic International Peace Climb, which put climbers from the U.S., Russia, and China on the summit of Everest in the name of world peace.

Jim Whittaker's achievement on Everest and his many successes before and after are the natural outcome of a life driven by a passion for outdoor adventure combined with strong leadership qualities and a commitment to making a difference.

This honest, revealing autobiography features all the major events in Whittaker's life: his formative years spent climbing with his twin brother Lou; the creation of REI and years of work growing the company; his intimate friendship with the Kennedys and the new world into which he was launched after his success on Everest; his major expeditions on K2 and Everest; a business partnership that resulted in bankruptcy; a failed marriage; a new marriage and a new family; and his new challenges beyond the mountains. In A Life on the Edge, readers will discover a true hero-someone who tells his story not to boast or preach but to share his love of the environment and outdoor adventure and to inspire others to seek challenges in their own lives.Featuring a 24-page color photo insert and 50 b&w photos. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

A few steps above!
Jim Whittaker began his life with only one real difference from most of us and that is that he had an identical twin. However from almost the day of his birth onward, his life accelerated beyond what is normal for most of us.
Mr. Whittaker enjoyed some luck in his life, particularly his ability to meet and mingle with some very powerful, influential and skilled individuals. He also enjoyed the benefit of his own hard work - from his days at REI to his climb on Everest and his efforts to put Americans on top of K2. He also had his share of bad luck, a divorce and a bankruptcy. This makes this story so much more entertaining because it is real, it is personal, it is something that could have happened to almost anyone with the drive and love of the mountains that Mr. Whittaker possessed.
The accounts of his alpine adventures, whether on Mt. Rainier or Mt. Everest or K2, are gripping, well written and harsh reminders of why mountaineering is not a sport for the faint of heart. Jim lost many of his close friends through out his life and the mountains claimed many of them. Despite any set back however, he pushed onward. This drive doesn't appear to be the result of a lust for glory or wealth but simply an extension of the man himself. In my opinion, his greatest successes are not the mountains he climbed but the peace and love of nature, family, and the mountains that he has helped others find.
This book is well written and easy to read and the pictures included are breathtaking (I wish there were more!). Reading this text will almost assuredly add a name to your list of personal heroes.

A great book - one fo the best on Mountaineering
One of the truly great climbing books! The work describes this American Hero's life philosophy of learning and truly living. It describes how to take on an acceptable amount of risk and gain from the experience. I found valuable Jim's philosophy (who I met and idolized as a kid) translated into a world well beyond the mountain - into his political friendship with the Kennedy's, his professional life at REI and Magellan GPS; as well as his efforts to foster nothing short of world peace. I kept finding myself wondering if there was anything Jim had not taken on!

The writing is considerably less melodramatic than a great number of climbing/travel logs, which is refreshing. Straightforward and clear, even when discussing the inevitable loss of life involved in mountaineering.

A memorable quote follows: "It's about making the most of every moment, about stretching your own boundaries, about being willing to learn constantly, and putting your self in situations where learning is possible - sometimes even critical to your survival. Being out on the edge, with every-thing at risk, is where you learn-and grow-the most.

This book puts life in perspective
An incredible book. Not because of his achievments (which are very impressive), but because he shares his wisdom regarding life. This comes from a man who's seen it all, and has seen life's ups and downs. Highly recommended.

Excellent book
I'm a 20 year old guy about to graduate from college, and have thus been thinking a lot about the future and how I want to live my life.. I just finished reading the book and wrote in my journal about it, which will sum up how I feel about it pretty well:

Wow... I just finished reading a really good book, a book that has brought together and solidified a lot of the things I've been thinking about the past few weeks. The name of the book was "Life on the Edge" by Jim Whittaker, the first american to reach the summit of Everest. When Chris and I went to the bookstore for our weekly visit, I was looking for an true-life adventure book, but I also wanted something that had a sense of "living" to it as well. I read "Into Thin Air" and it was like a drama novel, seeming almost like fiction. "Life on the Edge" hits much closer to home, describing the realities of a life well lived.

Fellow Adventurer
This book is great! I picked up the book at a Wilderness Club meeting where Jim Whittaker was the guest speaker. I was amazed with his good health and zeal for life at the age of 71. Jim's book is an inspiration to us all to seek out our dreams and explore the unknown. I couldn't put it down. His honesty and sincerity were remarkable. His description of the expeditions to K2, Everest and Mt. Ranier were vivid and thrilling. What an amazing life he leads! ... Read more

Book Description

The second title re-released by our Collins Library imprint, To Ruhleben And Back is the first eyewitness account of a German concentration camp. Lost to obscurity for over eighty years, Geoffrey Pyke’s extraordinary book is a college student's sharp-tongued travelogue, a journey of hair-breadth escapes behind enemy lines, a sober meditation on imprisonment and escape … and, as Pyke intended, a ripping yarn. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Smart Cliffhanger
I wasn't sure what to expect when I got "To Ruhleben and Back," but this memoir was a strange and wonderful surprise: English college kid sneaks into wartime (1914) Berlin as a journalist on a dare, gets in way over his head, is thrown into a prison camp, and then escapes with a fellow inmate in broad daylight to run, hide, and bluff their way across Germany to freedom. It's a really engrossing, old fashioned page turner. It's not a war book at all, more like a weird survival odyssey with a total wiseass: at one point he even poses as a sort of folk singer, probably not your usual POW escape plan. Great stuff. ... Read more

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Book Description

Navigation at sea was a matter of guesswork until well into the 19th century. Changing that became the obsession of Matthew Fontaine Maury. While others built railroads, Maury mapped highways of wind and current over the seas. Hearn uses Maury's career as a window on America's maritime development in the 19th century, including the clipper-ship era of the 1850s, the rise of steam and steel, and the Civil War.

Reviews (3)

American Hero
Mr. Hearn's splendid account of the life of the self-taught Matthew Maury is one that should be read by anyone with the remotest interest in sailing or the industrial revolution. He should also be of interest to those who want a concrete account of the benefits of "data-mining" in which miscellaneous, disparate sources of information are aggregated into something which is tremendously useful.

Maury took crates of old ship logs, and extracted the data about weather and currents as a function of date and location, and produced ingenious maps of the sea that could be used to plot voyages that minimized the time of passage. In the age of the American clipper ships, the time saved could be quite substantial, even amounting to as much as factor of two over the haphazard routes used by the intuitive captains of the day.

The reduction of the data and the production of the maps was carried out by only a handful of men at the U.S. Naval Observatory, but produced tremendous economic advantages to those who used them. They were quickly adopted by the merchant marine, and by cleverly requiring the recipients of the latest maps to turn over to him logs taken in a standard format, he was able to gather tons of new data for ever-improving successive maps. Maury also discovered the feasibility for the route of the first transatlantic cable, and fought to establish the first weather bureau in the US.

He also brought about the convening of a Brussels Marine meteorology Conference in 1853 that was attended by nine countries and resulted in the adoption of a uniform method of gathering and disseminating the information among the world. Not bad for a simple Lieutenant! His quarrels with the jealous Joseph Henry (of electromagnetic induction fame) and others of his ilk are instructive to those interested in stories of how pettiness and obstructionism of powerful men can be overcome by men of true ability.

This story is well researched and ably told by Mr. Hearn, and is another exciting adventure of the heroes who made the industrial revolution.

Interesting Life Story of a Neglected American Genius
Maury's life, rising from the humble origins of a farming family in Virginia and then Tennessee, to a career as an internationally renowned scientist, is quite interesting, and generally well told by author Chester Hearn. Most scientists would feel their careers were a success if they made a few contributions to their area of science. Maury's genius invented two whole sciences: oceanography and marine astronomy. He significantly improved navigation by finding "tracks in the sea," the patterns which numerous currents and winds follow all over the globe. Perhaps because he sided with the Confederacy in the Civil War, he became a relatively obscure figure. Since he had an enduring influence on the human race's knowledge of the oceans, he deserves to be better known. This book will help, and is well worth reading.

Rich historical perspective
This is a great book for anyone with an interest in or passion for sailing, navigation, mapping and charting or who holds an interest in the challenges of early explorers. ... Read more

Book Description

From his offices in Washington, D.C. and at Monticello, President Thomas Jefferson envisioned the unknown American West and devised an expedition to explore it, one that nearly two hundred years later still ranks as one of the most gripping adventures in our history.

From a modern vantage point, however, it is hard to grasp how little Jefferson and his chosen explorers actually knew about the West. James Ronda makes clear the West imagined by Jefferson and the scientists of his day --one with garden-like plains, low mountains, and easily navigable rivers, bearing the promise of the fabled Northwest Passage to the Pacific. Of course, the terrain encountered by Lewis and Clark was wider, taller, infinitely less navigable, and exponentially more rugged than Jefferson could have imagined.

Using the letters of Jefferson and the journals of Lewis and Clark, Ronda takes readers on a dual journey exploring the drama of the expedition from the perspectives of Jefferson in the East and Lewis and Clark out West. Added to this conflicting scheme is the presence of the Native Americans encountered by Lewis and Clark, whose world and perspective could not be understood in either Jefferson's vision for the trip or in Lewis and Clark's understanding of their voyage. ... Read more

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This book is a well-written and exciting autobiography of Henry Edward Tautari Johnson describing the days of gum digging and whaling; of kauri logging and river rafting in 1800's New Zealand.It is of a time when hardy working men depended on a horse and dray and a team of bullocks for their way of life.He lived during a difficult period of New Zealand's history where his opportunist ability aided his survival in rough situations.Harry Johnson, as he came to be known, was a world traveler during a time when it was not popular.He records his experiences of his boyhood on a training ship to his voyage to Ceylon in pirate infested waters; until he becomes a captain of his own ship.He records his years as a soldier in Egypt, his visit to the Holy land and Europe. A great read for those who enjoy humor, pathos, and excitement. ... Read more

Book Description

Anderl Heckmair: My Life is a fresh translation of the newly expanded and updated classic memoir, My Life as a Mountaineer. Heckmair revisits his early childhood, recalling that he was so delicate his mother literally packed him in cotton wool for his first few years. He talks about his family's financial difficulties, culminating with his mother having to send him and his brother to an orphanage.

He relives the event that catapulted him to international acclaim-the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, which he climbed in 1938 with Heinrich Harrer, Wiggerl Vörg, and Fritz Kasparek. The complete story of this ascent is told here, including first-person account details. The spirit that led to success on the Eiger is evident throughout Heckmair's life: as a young man he rarely had sufficient funds, but he was able to find the time and means to get to the mountains, even if it involved stealing the occasional sausage. As a professional guide, he climbed with Leni Riefenstahl, the German filmmaker best known for the 1934 Nazi propaganda film, Triumph of the Will.

Heckmair, now in his 90s, still ponders what he's going to tackle next. ... Read more

Book Description

His pilgrimage through the East began in 1271 when, still a teenager, he found himself traversing the most exotic lands-from the dazzling Mongol empire to Tibet and Burma. This fascinating chronicle still serves as the most vivid depiction of the mysterious East in the Middle Ages. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Makes History come alive!!
You may have heard in school about Marco Polo and his journey to China and India. But this book describes the sites and people he and his group saw during their travels in the Middle Ages. This is one of the first travel guides that have inspire people from Christopher Columbus to modern tourist.

The best presentation of Marco Polo's travels
Marco Polo appertains to an exeptionally small group of historical personalities widely known on all continents. Such knowledge in the first place is based on the passing from generation to generation tales of adventurers and marvellous riches of the Asian World in the Middle Ages. To evaluate in this way of Marco Polo's book is the result of a renaissance interpretation of above all a rational text. No matter how interesting, such an image has made that text to reader of all ages over the past seven centuries, it has concealed its values: understanding of the reality and connection of numerous people and their cultures present on the extended Euro-Asian area. Colonel Henry Yule, himself a great admirer of these infinite diversities; such as geographical, climatic, ethnic, cultural and what else not, has unselfishly made available his great experience of a scientist and researcher, talent and good will in verifiying the saying of Marco Polo and presented it to the scientists and public. The summary of this extremely complex, professional and meticulous work is laid out on these 1680 pages (vols. 1 & 2). Numerous illustrations and detailed descriptions of itineraries and places from the Mediterranean to the Pacific and India, an area of abundant testimonies of great cultures; where great armies have roamed; obstinate missionaries and merchants, diplomats and spies have operated and what we called The Silk Roads, introduce the reader into the great world of Marco Polo and are a valuable source of information for everyone who intends to see these wordless testimonies and numerous fascinating landscapes of vast deserts and their oasis, mountain ranges and green valleys, where life runs slowly but with dignity as Marco Polo has seen and described it. Marco Polo and his work have been in the focus of many individual researchers and teams before and after Mr. Henry Yule, giving valuable contributions. However, for the overall knowledge, vision and comprehension of Marco Polo and his achivements, the book written by colonel Henry Yule "The Book of Marco Polo" has maintained the very top position won by its first presentation to the public in the distant year of 1871.

"Never man explored so much as Messer Marco."
In 1260, Niccolo Polo, the father of Marco Polo, and his brother Maffeo went across Black Sea in the hope of a profitable brisk of trade. So the brothers from Venice brought many dazzling jewels and set out from Constantinople by ship to Sudak and onward to Barku. A war broke out in Barka's Land forced the brothers to travel the opposite direction from which they had come. After they had crossed the desert, they came to Bukhara (in Persia) and by fortuity met a Tartar (Mongol) envoy on the way back to the Great Khan in Khan-balik (Beijing). On learning that they were merchants from Venice whom had never been seen in the country, the envoy invited the brothers to accompany him to Khan-balik to see the Great Khan.

The Great Khan received the brothers honorably and welcomed them with such lavish hospitality after a year's journey. The curious Khan asked the brothers about their Emperors, about the government of their dominions, about the maintenance of justice, about the Pope and practices of the Roman Church, and about the Latin customs. He decided to send emissaries to the Pope, and asked the brothers to accompany on the mission with one of his barons. He entrusted them a letter written in the Turkish language for the Pope and asked him to send a hundred prominent men learned in the Christian religion to condemn idolaters' performances and shun devil. These well versed were to demonstrate for the idolaters their capability of doing diabolic arts but would not, because only evil spirits performed such enchantments.

As the brothers approached Egypt, they got wind of the Pope's death and so they would go to Venice and visit their families pending the election of a new Pope. During the homeward voyage, Niccolo learned that his wife had passed away and left behind a 15-years-old son Marco Polo, who authored this book. After staying in Venice for about 2 years, they left for Jerusalem to get the oil from the lamp at Christ's sepulcher which the Great Khan had requested for his deceased mother, who was a Christian. The Travels chronicles the three years' journey back to Khan-balik from Venice, via the ancient trade corridor now known as the Silk Road, and details all the peculiar sights and peoples along the present Iran, Iraq, India, Tibet, Pamir, Mongolia, and China. It also records the many regions Marco Polo traveled during his numerous emissaries for the Great Khan during his 17 years in China.

The Great Khan found favor with the then 21-years-old Marco Polo, who had acquired a remarkable knowledge of the letters and customs of the Tartars. Observing his wisdom and perspicacity, Khan sent him as his emissary to Kara-jang (Yunnan) in the far southwest, a mission Marco polo fulfilled brilliantly. When he went on his mission, being well aware of mistakes of previous emissaries, he paid close attention to all the novelties and curiosities that came his way, so that he may report them to the Great Khan. On his return Marco Polo would present himself before the Khan and first gave a full account of the business on which he had been sent. Then he went on to recount these remarkable things he sighted on the way. In The Travels, one will find detailed account of interesting, if not bizarre, customs and practices at which Marco Polo marveled, the very same stories that entertained the Khan who became well disposed to the young lad.

For 17 years, Kubilai (the sixth khan in the Yuan dynasty) was so well satisfied with Marco Polo's conduct of affairs that he held him in high esteem and showed him such favor as keeping him so near his person. He observed more of the peculiarities of China than any of his contemporaries, because he traveled more extensively in these outlandish regions, and not to mention he gave his mind more intently to observing and recording them. The Travels reflects the stupendous extent of his travel, as Marco Polo often bypasses many places that were of no particular interest to him.

Emissaries sent Marco Polo all over Manzi (southern China) and Cathay (northern China), rendering a vivid delineation of the native people, customs, cultures with amazing verisimilitude. For example, he marveled at the funeral customs in which the deads were provided with horses, slaves, camels, clothes in great abundance - all cut out of paper (a tradition that still prevails among Chinese) and burned alongside. For the Chinese believed the deads would have all the money in gold and all the necessities in the next world, alive in fresh and bone, and that all the honor they did while he was burning would be done to the deads correspondingly in the next world by their gods and idols.

Marco Polo also wrote a detailed account of India and its practices of diabolic arts and similar funeral customs. From other historical resources, he probably acquired his knowledge partly when he was there on the Khan's business, partly on his return trip with the bride for Arghun, and that he derived some of it from first-hand observation, some from reliable testimony, and some from mariners' charts. He also wrote about the life of Sakyamuni Buekhan, who was revered founder of the Buddhist religion, for he refused to be the successor of his king father but continued to lead a life of great virtue, chastity, and austerity.

In 1293, the Great Khan reposed such confidence in the brothers that he entrusted to their care not only the princess of Kokachin but also the daughter of the king of the Manzi, so that they might escort them to Arghun, Khan of all the Levant. The Polo brothers' adventure in the East thus completed on the note of a successful escort to Kaikhatu. The Travels, also known as The travels of Marco Polo, chronicled all wonders of Marco Polo's encounters in the East for 33 years.

2004 (42) ©MY

Barely believable adventures.
Marco writes well enough of his travels and you feel that you are there. You can actually follow the trail if you have a map. He describes the flora and fauna of each region and describes the economics and industry of the region.
Example: "The women of the superior class are in like manner free from superfluous hairs; their skins are fare, and they are well formed."
It is interesting to see how little has changed from Marco Polo's 13th century and now.

Essential Travelogue, could have been better presented
I have read this book while traveling in China by train. It is a very interesting description of past times, and essential reading for those interested in historical geography. Several points need to be clarified, though. First Marco Polo is not what one would call today an "unbiased observer". He traveled on the trips he wrote about while being employed as an emissary for the Mongols, and his admiration for the Mongol regime shows throughout. People and civilizations are judged by their proximity to the Mongol Khan. The point of view of the Chinese and other victims of Mongols is completely absent.

Second, Marco Polo was obsessed with power, money, prostitution, and religion. Most of his descriptions center about these things, to the neglect of other aspects of human life. He divides the cities he encounters upon religious lines, even in places like China where the inhabitants themselves weren't aware or didn't care about such divisions. His admiration for Christianity and his contempt for Buddhism (whom he erroneously associates with idol worship) shows through. He often writes as if drunken with admiration for Mongol power, praising the Khan for massacring entire cities, while at the same time labeling peaceful people as "pusillanimous".

Having said that, these travelogues are still interesting to read. The short-chapter format is very well-suited to reading in the bathroom. The translation by William Marsden is very well-done and easy to read. However, my edition (Wordsworth Editions, 1997) could be improved in several ways. A map for instance showing the route of his travels would go a long way assisting the reader to follow along. Otherwise one has to reconstruct the places from the crude narrative ("and then we traveled 3 days by camel heading East, then turned to left and walked 1 day ..."). Frankly, quite often I had no clue about which location he was writing. So I ended up copying a map from a history book and pasting it inside the back cover. Still one desires a more detailed map, with marks designating locations chapter by chapter.

Another desperately needed improvement is a translation table. Many of the place names he used had long been ignored and replaced with new place names. In my edition there is one page glossary of place names, but that is far from adequate. For example, the glossary only translates 5 place names in China, leaving dozens other names in oblivion, and leaving me wondering whether the city of Kin-Sai, the one Marco Polo praises the most and devotes the most pages to, is modern-day SuZhou or HangZhou. This is an important deficiency that needs to be corrected. Whatever edition you decide to buy, make sure first that it has a good map and a good glossary of names! ... Read more

Book Description

"I had only a moment to get all sail down and myself upon the peakhalliards, out of danger, when I saw the mighty crest towering masthead-highabove me. The mountain of water submerged my vessel. She shook in every timberand reeled under the weight of the sea ..."

What would it be like to sail around the world by yourself, especially withoutthe telecommunications and technical equipment we have today? "Alone At Sea"takes readers on such a thrilling journey.

In 1895, Joshua Slocum embarked on a three-year, 46,000-mile solocircumnavigation of the globe. His boat, a refitted oyster sloop called Spray,took him through pirate-infested waters and horrific storms amidst the ghostsand demons of 36 months of solitude. "Alone at Sea" is his story:

"On his first solo day, Slocum found himself enveloped by fog so thick 'onecould almost stand on it.'It was as if his loneliness had been made visible asthe thick fog 'lowered over the sea like a pall.'

He and the Spray were one small speck on an all-encompassing sea, invisible tothe rest of the world. Slocum pondered his invisibility with a growing awarenessof his insignificance in the universe: 'In the dismal fog I felt myself driftinginto loneliness, an insect on a straw in the midst of the elements.'"

This is the first original full-scale biography of Joshua Slocum in over 40years. Ann Spencer spent years poring over the sailor's own journals andhistorical records buried in libraries and archives throughout New England andthe Maritimes. She uncovered new facts, documents and photographs now publishedhere. With Spencer's engaging text and peppered with Slocum's own journalentries, "Alone At Sea" is captivating reading for anyone interested in sailing,nautical history, travel and the soul of a true adventurer. Heroes come rarelyin real life and this is the story of a too-little known maritime hero.

Ann Spencer is a freelance writer and broadcaster. She is a regular contributorto magazines and produces radio documentaries. She lives in Halifax, NovaScotia. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Grand Master Sailor and Navigator
A great book for anyone with an interest of the life and stories of Josua Slocum.I have read & Re-read "Sailing Alone,Around The World". A natural extention, "Alone At Sea",discibes "situations",not before written about. ... Read more

Book Description

Telling the story of the greatest sailor of them all, "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" is a vivid and definitive biography of Columbus that details all of his voyages that, for better or worse, changed the world. 50 drawings, maps & charts; 4 fold-outs. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Enlightening and entertaining
This was one of the most enjoyable biographies I've read. The most distinguishing thing about this book of course is the fact that Morison recreated the voyages before his writing the book. This recreation lends credibility to his writing. But more than that, it makes much of the book, particularly those parts at sea, seem as if the reader is experiencing the voyages through the person of Columbus. Not only the particulars of what he saw, but the smells of land breezes, the feel of the trade winds, the motion of the boat. Morison's obvious love of the sea and of sailing work very much in his favor. Another strength is the historical perspective carefully provided by Morison. Knowing what was going on with Catholic Spain during Columbus' life (the defeat of the Moors, the expulsion of the Jews, political intrigue and conflict involving France, England, Portugal, and others) helps to explain the motivations of Columbus and his contemporaries. I was a bit wary of a 60-year old book, Pulitzer or no Pulitzer, in light of the more recent reconsiderations of Columbus. Some people would have us believe that the voyage of 1492 was some sort of original sin inflicted upon the paradise that was the western hemisphere. But in his preface, Morison makes it clear that he is concerned with Columbus, the "man of action", and is leaving analyses of his motivations to others. And at any rate, Morison's sensibilities are very much in tune with those of the year 2000. He makes few apologies for Columbus and takes him to task where warranted, particularly for his treatment of the natives. One chapter, "Hell in Hispaniola", is almost exclusively devoted to this area. One word of warning: If your knowledge of sailing isn't good, then you may want to bone up on some of the rudiments before starting this book. Morison provides an explanation of some of the terminology, but not enough for someone who knows as little about sailing as I did coming in. But please don't be put off by that - this book is a real pleasure.

The Great Discoverer
Morison was both a true sailor and a true writer. This, his pre-war masterpiece (his WW2 history of the U.S. Navy being his other) was intended for the 450th anniversary of the First Voyage which, sadly, was overshadowed by other events. It remains the standard English-language work on the four voyages of the Admiral (as Morison likes to call him), and it reigns supreme over all other Great Explorer books as the one tome which is doubly literate - both well written and fully conversant in sailing lore. The first point Morison makes is that Columbus did, after all, discover America: Africans, Chinese, Vikings and (obviously) the Indians had encountered it before 1492, but only Columbus got back home to spread the word. Discovery is not just finding something, it's telling everyone else about it. The other early point debunked is that Columbus never "proved" the world was round, as no-one ever doubted it was: his thesis was that the world was not as big as everyone said - therefore China was only a month's sail away. In this, he was utterly, utterly wrong, but the by-product of his error was the unfolding of the New World. Finally, Morison comes to Columbus the man. He was no saint - his treatment of the Carib peoples is a terrible stain on his and his masters' reputations - but as a navigator, few approach his skill, and none his achievements.

biased book, still good reading for the beginner
Morison (RIP) was in love with Columbus, thus, don't hold your breath waiting to find out details of the natives' Holocauts (yes). And the "other" Holocaust will be forever part of his biography.

Columbus was in large part responsible for introducing penalty of cutting off hands of Indians who failed to produce the quota of gold dust. Greedy Columbus himself was killing natives at the wholesale. After all, in his first journal the word "gold" is repeated countless times. Columbus was first the businessman, and then a superb mariner.

Such abuses are polished by Morison, making the book unreliable source.

Still, author uses good narration to explain life of Columbus, and sets in invironment. If you know nothing about Columbus, you may buy the book for its easy reading. If you are looking for fair and detailed bio, look further (John Boyd Thacher, "Cristopher Columbus", 1903, is still the best source).

Worthwile to note: this book comes also in 2 volume version, which, beside of more pictures, includes an extra chapter on origin of syphilis (Morison in general minimizes massive raping of women).

The Best on the subject...
What other Author on Columbus was also an Admiral? ... and sailed the same pathways on a clipper ship?... Morison has written many books on Cristobal... and this one is the cadaliac. I have a slip-covered collectors edition, but have bought many used copies to give to friends as gifts (plus a few for myself). If you like truthful history written with style and professionalism... this in a book to own.

A great book by a great historian and a great prose stylist
This remains the definitive biography of Columbus. Morison was one of the greatest historians ever to practice the craft--his scholarship still holds up today. He was also a master of the written word, unlike most professional historians today.

Morison enumerates the reasons why he admires Columbus, but he also catalogs the man's misdeeds--for example, Morison uses the word "genocide" to describe Columbus's treatment of the Indians as governor of Hispaniola. Morison gives his readers the facts they need to form their own opinion of Columbus. (I do not share Morison's admiration for the man.)

I must correct the astonishingly ignorant remarks of the reviewer who identified himself as "A reader from New York City" and entitled his review "So much ignorance my God..."

Here goes:

1) The reviewer asserted that Morison was not, in fact, an admiral. Actually, Morison did receive the title. FDR made Morison an honorary admiral when he commissioned the scholar to write the naval history of the US role in WWII. (Morison produced a 12-volume epic. It's still in print.)

2) The reviewer regurgitates a number of questions about Columbus's origins that he apparently drew from another book by a revisionist historian (Kirkpatrick Sale?). The questions the reviewer repeats are good ones, but they are questions that remain open because the evidence to answer them conclusively probably does not exist. If the reviewer were a trained historian, he might understand that. ... Read more

Book Description

As a boy in Russia, Nicholas Roerich was captivated by a traveler's stories about Rigden Djapo, ruler of the mystical Himalayan kingdom of Shamballa. These ancient legends told of a time of trouble to come, when Rigden Djapo would assemble his warriors of light and fight a victorious battle over all darkness. Then an era of peace would begin.

When Nicholas grew up, he fulfilled his dream of exploring Asia and becoming a warrior of light. In the 1920s, he led a five-year trek through Central Asia over many of the world’s most dangerous mountain passes. While on the journey, he worked on several hundred paintings despite overwhelming obstacles. During his lifetime, he completed about seven thousand works of art.

Not only was Nicholas Roerich a courageous explorer and a talented artist, but he was also a world leader in many professions. He was a scientist, he wrote 30 books and he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to preserve cultural institutions and landmarks during wartime. Twenty-one nations signed a treaty pledging to protect museums, universities, cathedrals and libraries that flew the Banner of Peace that Nicholas had designed.

Warrior of Light tells the fascinating story of the remarkable boy who grew up to be a world-famous artist, explorer, author, scientist, philosopher and peacemaker. ... Read more

Book Description

"These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale." So penned Captain Robert Falcon Scott in 1912 as he confronted defeat and death in the crippling subzero temperatures of Antarctica. In this riveting book, Susan Solomon finishes the interrupted tale of Scott and his British expedition, depicting the staggering 900-mile trek to the South Pole and resolving the debate over the journey’s failure. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Still not exonerated
Susan Solomon has tried very hard in this well-written and documented new book to exonerate Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the leader of the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole in 1911-1912. In recent years Scott has been accused of everything from simple incompetence to real stupidity by critics of his leadership and organization, which Solomon, an NOAA scientist with a distinguished career and Antarctic experience, clearly finds unjustified. By extensively researching not only the original documentation - diaries of Scott and his men, the expedition's meteorological records, information from other Antarctic expeditions of the day such as Shackleton's 1908-1909 try for the pole and Amundsen's successful polar bid of 1911-1912 - but also modern meteorological data, now available for some years along the entirety of Scott's route to the pole (now the course for aircraft bound for the Amundsen-Scott Station), she has tried her level best to suggest that abnormally cold weather was the deciding factor in the loss of the five-man polar party. And indeed cold weather must have been a factor. The poor weather conditions not only would have debilitated the men and caused severe frostbite, the friction of cold snow would have made it almost impossible for the men to pull their sledges more than a few miles a day. Indeed Solomon has charted the progress of the polar party, comparing it with the two supporting parties that turned back short of the pole, and her information does demonstrate how badly slowed up Scott and his four companions were.

The trouble remains, however, that while poor weather clearly contributed to the loss of Captain Scott and his men, Scott's own mistakes and poor planning were also a factor, and to her great credit Solomon does not conceal them, just as Scott, an undeniably courageous and honest man, did not conceal them in his own writings. Scott's assiduous copying of Shackleton's mistakes in 1908-09 (the use of ponies, reliance on unproven motor transport), his own short cuts (spending time testing his motor sledges but not clothing, tents, or other gear), and his failures in leadership (taking five men instead of the planned four to the pole) were instrumental, I believe, in his failure to survive the trek. One also must question why, after the blizzard that trapped the men in their tent 11 miles from a depot of food and fuel, the two well men, Dr. Wilson and the redoubtable Lt. Bowers, did not leave Scott, who was crippled by frostbite, and go to the depot for supplies or even, in the finale extremity, leave Scott to die and save themselves, something Solomon herself seems to find as mysterious as others who have pondered the question, although she advances a possible explanation.

Overall this is a very good book, the first to take into account modern knowledge of Antarctic weather and apply it to Scott's tragic expedition. Although I don't feel that the author has entirely proved her thesis, it is a valuable and useful contribution to the controversy over Captain Scott's expedition.

Last Place on Earth is better!
Susan Solomon's 400+ pages of closely reasearched and well written material can't disguise Capt. Scott's failings in leadership. He may have possessed a modern scientific outlook in his thinking, but his methodology was so often flawed that his expedition was probably doomed from the start. The PBS companion program "Secrets of the Dead" also does a great diservice to Roald Amundsen, characterizing this professional polar explorer's successful journey to the South Pole as "lucky" and "unplanned." Amundsen's achievement--traversing nearly 2000 miles of unknown territory in the harshest climate on the planet with a mixture of meticulous planning and hearty self-reliance--completely eclipses Scott's slavish & unimaginative repetition of Shackleton's route & methods. Roland Huntford's excellent "The Last Place on Earth" remains the classic study of the Amundsen/Scott polar journeys--don't read Solomon without Huntford.

New Insight Disturbing
This book is very readable and enjoyable, even for those familiar with Scott's story. The reason for the one star deduction is the author's half-hearted defense of Scott. Several of the examples she uses to demonstrate that Scott was not a total idiot actually confirm Scott's deficiencies. Scott's largest flaw was his inability to learn from his previous experience. In his initial foray into Antartica, he took two excursions that found him making it back barely alive. In his trip to the pole, he cut his margin of error too close yet again. The author makes a strong point that Scott had been informed by Simpson of the March temperatures and expected temperature differences further south, yet Scott did not alter his plans to accordingly.

What the author may have missed is that the Scott/Amundsen dielectic is one of the dying empire/doing it the British way with human fortitude (ie. stiff upper lip) versus a new country/adjusting to the circumstances as required. Scott was doomed by the paradigm he was working within. Amundsen represented the new paradigm that would eventually replace Scott's paradigm. Scott's failure was a harbinger of the decline of the British Empire.

The major contribution of the book is the revelation that Scott in the final days was not held back by the weather. The obvious conclusion, that the author dances around, is that Scott, due to his back frostbite and inability to go on himself, failed to follow in Oates' heroic footsteps and allow Wilson and Bowers the chance to survive. Scott's vanity and lack of courage cost may have cost them their lives. I had a very low opinion of Scott before reading this book. Knowing that Scott lied about the weather and the reason their party was stalled lowers my opinion of him further.

Someone interested in polar exploration should begin by reading The Last Place on Earth. When done with that, Solomon's book adds an interesting twist on the story.

The Coldest March-High Adventure in Antartica
This is a fascinating tale of high adventure in Antarctica that is well documented with all the scientific facts that a scientist or scholar would demand in a research paper. I chose to read it as a true story of a heroic struggle by a determined group of men who willingly followed Scott out of love and respect, despite terrible hardships. Besides the obvious hardship of the cold, the men also faced death by drowning, starvation, disease and were even threatened by Killer Whales trying to break through the ice to get to the men and the horses. A must read for the real or would be adventurer!

Interesting assessment of Scott's Polar journey......
This is a really thoughtful, well-researched assessment of Scott's fatal Polar expedition. It is insightful and gives the reader a clear explanation of many issues that affected the outcome of one of the most interesting expeditions of all times. It is full of information that brings to life what these MEN did almost a hundred years ago. Exploration is on a different level these days. Nothing like it was for Scott's party and those of his era experienced. Brave and daring like nothing we can imagine.I think anyone interested in Polar exploration will be thoroughly satisfied with the subject matter covered in this well written book. It covers survival issues like no other book on the subject I have seen to date.It is a subject that I find fascinating and this book brings out the horrific circumstances that they had to contend with and is a more fair appraisal of Scott's effort to reach the South Pole. Well worth your time and consideration. ... Read more

Book Description

In the mid-nineteenth century, little was known of the west coast and waterways. The ships that sailed those waters did so at a considerable risk, sometimes depending on only a school atlas to navigate and all too often crashing into the rocks. So the U.S. Coast Survey, whose purpose was to map every mile of American shoreline, commissioned George Davidson to chart all of the major points on the coast and all of the waterways in between. In this beautifully illustrated book, Taylor Morrison chronicles the challenges and adventures Davidson and his team faced and the methods they used to accomplish this monumental, and essential, task. ... Read more

Book Description

"Exploring Other Worlds" tells the intertwined stories of the Arctic explorer Elisha Kent Kane and the spiritualist medium Margaret Fox and examines their unlikely relationship. Kane, from a prominent Philadelphia family, became one of the most renowned and honored explorers of the antebellum era. Fox grew up in rural upstate New York and, as one of the Fox Sisters, became a famed and somewhat notorious "spirit rapper" whose strange "knocks" were said to be communications from the dead. The two were rumored to have had a love affair, and they may even have been secretly married.

In their separate professional lives, Kane and Fox each revealed something new and strange (though not necessarily true) to their audiences—the unknown worlds of the globe and the spirit. They brought experiences to their listeners that were exotic and delightful. The burgeoning commercial mass culture of antebellum America provided a natural venue for tales of huge icebergs, fierce polar bears, and messages from the dead. Their public careers bridged the gaps between the scientific investigations of an earlier Enlightenment age and a newer form of sensational inquiry growing up in a democratic marketplace.

While Kane and Fox began by generating curiosity about geography and the nature of the human soul, in time their personal relationship became the basis for what newspaperman Horace Greeley would call an "impertinent curiosity." Newspapers printed letters about their supposed romance, and eventually a book purporting to be the famous explorer’s love-letters to the notorious spiritualist was published. Curiosity about the Arctic and curiosity about the fate of the soul after death were transformed into curiosity about the private affairs of a new kind of media-driven public celebrity. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Book
I thought that this book was seriously one of the best I have read in a while.Chapin does and excellent job in both telling the story and exploring the characters.I fervently look forward to the next thing Chapin writes because I know that not only will it be well researched, but it will be presented in a captivating fashion. ... Read more

Book Description

"FRANK BARR is an entertaining tale of the exploits of one of Alaska's diminishing population of bush pilots. It is a refreshing look at the not-so-distant past and a pleasant read for a winter's evening." --Tundra Times ... Read more

Book Description

"This is a necessary book for anyone who has read Tristan Jones's stories with enjoyment or suspicion, or both."

--Derek Lundy, author of Godforsaken Sea

"I was enchanted from start to finish by Anthony Dalton's biography."

--John Rousmaniere, author of After the Storm

Tristan Jones boasted a worldwide following for his memoirs of extraordinary adventures from the Arctic to the Dead Sea. But, as Wayward Sailor proves, Jones was a fascinating invention of his own imagination. Wayward Sailor is a voyage into the soul of a mysterious adventurer.