Inspired by Ernest Shackleton's 1914-15 escape from the bitter clutches of Antarctica, this book is by turn inspirational, harrowing, tragic and unimaginable. It recounts stories of ordinary mortals who achieved extraordinary things. From the ice-locked poles and endless deserts of Arabia to the storm-tossed South Atlantic, the rainforests of the Amazon and sheer peaks of the Himalayas, the world's most famous adventurers recount their experiences.
Includes accounts from some of the greatest ever explorers and adventurers: Captain Scott, Ernest Shackleton; John Franklin, Edmund Hilary, Laurens Van der Post, Thor Heyerdahl, John Blashford-Snell, Ranulp Fiennes, Chay Blyth, Jacques Cousteau, Nick Danziger,; Charles Lindbergh, Peter Fleming and many more.
JON E. LEWIS is an historian and author of numerous bestselling books on history and military history, including Voices from D-Day, Voices from the Holocaust, The Mammoth Book of the Vietnam War and A Brief History of the First World War. He holds graduate and postgraduate degrees in history and his work has appeared in New Statesman, the Independent, Time Out and the Guardian. He lives in Herefordshire.