Around The World In 50 Years

This is the inspiring story of an ordinary guy who achieved two great goals that others had told him were impossible. First, he set a record for the longest automobile journey ever made around the world, during the course of which he blasted his way out of minefields, survived a breakdown atop the Peak of Death, came within seconds of being lynched in Pakistan, and lost three of the five men who started with him, two to disease, one to the Vietcong. After that-although it took him forty-seven more years-Albert Podell set another record by going to every country on Earth. He achieved this by surviving riots, revolutions, civil wars, trigger-happy child soldiers, voodoo priests, robbers, pickpockets, corrupt cops, and Cape buffalo. He went around, under, or through every kind of earthquake, cyclone, tsunami, volcanic eruption, snowstorm, and sandstorm that nature threw at him. He ate everything from old camel meat and rats to dung beetles and the brain of a live monkey. And he overcame attacks by crocodiles, hippos, anacondas, giant leeches, flying crabs-and several beautiful girlfriends who insisted that he stop this nonsense and marry them. Albert Podell's Around the World in 50 Years is a remarkable and meaningful tale of quiet courage, dogged persistence, undying determination, and an uncanny ability to extricate himself from one perilous situation after another-and return with some of the most memorable, frightening, and hilarious adventure stories you have ever read.

Vince Flury spent 50 years in the field of Aviation. He started out as an Aircraft and Engine Mechanic in the U. S. Air Force. He attended the University of Miami School of Engineering under the G. I. Bill. After graduation, was hired by Pan American World Airways as an Aeronautical Engineer. He retired from Pan Am after 30 years and opened his own Aeronautical Consulting Service which he operated for 14 years. During those periods, he traveled the world, living and working on all continents except Antarctica. At his 80th Birthday party, Vince was pushed by his children to finally put into writing the stories that they had been hearing about, and sometimes living through, all of their lives. This book is a collection of those stories which take you around the world to strange places, exotic culture, and stirring experiences.

Ken Pearson was born in Mexborough, South Yorkshire on 16th February 1930. He was the son of William and Edith Pearson and had an older sister Florence and a younger brother called Leonard. He started work on 14th February 1944 aged 14, as an Apprentice fitter and had many changes of job over his lifetime which took him to different parts of the UK, but also all over the world. He went to Canada, then to New York by bus; then back to the UK via the Queen Mary. He travelled to Venezuela, Singapore, Borneo, Japan, the Philippines, Germany, Nigeria, and Miami - to name just a few countries. Now happily retired in Scarborough North Yorkshire, members of Ken's family presented him with writing materials at his 87th birthday party and suggested that, as he had had an interesting life and travelled widely all over the world, he should write his life story. Determined as ever, Ken, who says he had never written a story in his life, put pen to paper. This is that story.

Fifty years ago, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) was founded by the stroke of a pen when the National Academy of Sciences Council approved the NAE's articles of organization. Making a World of Difference commemorates the NAE anniversary with a collection of essays that highlight the prodigious changes in people's lives that have been created by engineering over the past half century and consider how the future will be similarly shaped. Over the past 50 years, engineering has transformed our lives literally every day, and it will continue to do so going forward, utilizing new capabilities, creating new applications, and providing ever-expanding services to people. The essays of Making a World of Difference discuss the seamless integration of engineering into both our society and our daily lives, and present a vision of what engineering may deliver in the next half century.

“Conventional analysis suffers from a profound failure of imagination. It imagines passing clouds to be permanent and is blind to powerful, long-term shifts taking place in full view of the world.” —George Friedman In his long-awaited and provocative new book, George Friedman turns his eye on the future—offering a lucid, highly readable forecast of the changes we can expect around the world during the twenty-first century. He explains where and why future wars will erupt (and how they will be fought), which nations will gain and lose economic and political power, and how new technologies and cultural trends will alter the way we live in the new century. The Next 100 Years draws on a fascinating exploration of history and geopolitical patterns dating back hundreds of years. Friedman shows that we are now, for the first time in half a millennium, at the dawn of a new era—with changes in store, including: • The U.S.-Jihadist war will conclude—replaced by a second full-blown cold war with Russia. • China will undergo a major extended internal crisis, and Mexico will emerge as an important world power. • A new global war will unfold toward the middle of the century between the United States and an unexpected coalition from Eastern Europe, Eurasia, and the Far East; but armies will be much smaller and wars will be less deadly. • Technology will focus on space—both for major military uses and for a dramatic new energy resource that will have radical environmental implications. • The United States will experience a Golden Age in the second half of the century. Written with the keen insight and thoughtful analysis that has made George Friedman a renowned expert in geopolitics and forecasting, The Next 100 Years presents a fascinating picture of what lies ahead. For continual, updated analysis and supplemental material, go to www.geopoliticalfutures.com.

Set off from London and travel across the globe. Then try to make it back! In this adventure, kids choose their route and transportation, from tuk-tuks and sleds, to steamboats and hot-air balloons. They'll visit famous cities and exotic, far-flung places - and learn amazing facts along the way.

'They're places skiers will love.' - Metro 'An intercontinental romp through a galaxy of ski trivia.' - Scotsman 'Whether you've ever skied or never been near a chairlift or the piste, there is gold in these pages. ' - Press & The Journal The amazing history behind the best ski trails in the world. Veteran ski journalist Patrick Thorne has unearthed the incredible stories behind 50 unique runs from the utterly unmissable to the totally unexpected. Discover the two different Alpine ski areas who claim to be Hannibal's route through the mountains with his elephants; the debate around what is really the world's steepest slope; how smugglers have used ski runs to escape custom patrol; and why hundreds of skiers dress as witches at Belalp in Switzerland every year. Features skiing from across Europe, North America and South America, as well as fascinating global ski destinations including China, Iran and even North Korea. Along the way we'll meet Franz Klammer, the greatest ski racer in history, as well as The Beatles, Count Dracula, St Patrick and James Bond. Complimented with practical information and trail maps, it is the perfect gift for the skier in your life.

In November 1962, the then 22-year-old Stücke left his job as a tool and die maker and rode out of his hometown on a three-speed bike, with a dream to explore the world on two wheels. During his travels, Stücke encountered many obstacles and near death experiences, which saw him hit by a truck in Chile's Atacama Desert, chased by an angry mob in Haiti, attacked by bees in Mozambique, detained by military in Cameroon and losing his bike in Siberia before having it stolen in Portsmouth. Stücke's extraordinary desire to travel the world was partly motivated by his aversion to returning to factory work in his native Germany. Heinz Stücke is now back where he started: in Hövelhof, the German village he happily cycled away from half a century ago. He visited 196 countries, got through 21 passports, and ended up with a tidy number of 100,000 photos to sort out. He came across Pelé, got pocket money from Haile Selassie, and even slept under the arms of Christ the Redeemer. He cycled more than 648,000 kilometres, most of them on an ordinary gents' bike, and several thousands on a Brompton folding bike. Heinz 'wanted to see it all'. Dutch travel writer Eric van den Berg, who dug into his vast collection of journals, photos, postcards and notes, visited the now 75 year old cyclist to get an answer to that most pressing question: why? His philosophy of 'home is elsewhere' comes through in the daily routines, unexpected encounters and inevitable mishaps of a lifelong adventurist and Einzelgänger, and not least through the pictures Heinz took himself.