45 narratives of unparalleled achievements in the long history of exploration, from 1271 (Marco Polo) to 1928 (Umberto Mobile, pioneering pilot who flew over the North Pole in a dirigible)

History at its best: entertaining, provocative, and revealing of human nature, this book tells the spellbinding stories of ten men who pursued glory at any cost - even the truth

collected writings of world-famous climber Walter Bonatti. Includes his version of the controversial 1954 Italian expedition of K2. Also, his ascents in the Alps, the Patagonian Andes, the Himalayas

Veteran explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's first-hand account of the excruciating and inspiring 1914 expedition to Antarctica aboard the Endurance.

1st published in 1979, Roland Huntford's brilliant dual biography reexamines every detail of the great race to the South Pole between Britain's Robert Scott (1912) and Norway's Roald Amundsen (1911)

Originally published in 1900, this is Slocum's account of his three-year, 46,000 mile solo trip around the world, a voyage he began in 1895. An unparalleled narrative of adventure.

Originally published in 1874, this is the classic account of a scientific expedition forced to survive famine, attacks, mutiny, and some of the most dangerous rapids known to man.

Loomis's 1957 biography of Charles Francis Hall, a Cincinnati businessman who, in 1860, set out to locate and rescue the survivors of Sir John Franklin's ill-fated expedition to the Arctic

In 1820, the Nantucket whaleship Essex was rammed by a whale. This book combines first-mate Owen Chase's account with Essex cabin boy Thomas Nickerson's. Also includes accounts from articles+newspaper

Written in 1822, this is John Nicol's account of the years he spent at sea, 1776-1801. Nicol fought against Napoleon's navy, battled pirates, befriended natives, and twice circumnavigated the globe

A skillful weaving together of Columbus's log-books and letters, the biography by his son Hernando, the official history by Oviedo, and the letters of the fleet physician and a loyal lieutenant