Great Explorers

Penetrating biographies written by a group of distinguished travel writers, broadcasters, and historians reveal the lives, motives, and passions of forty major explorers in history. It has always been mankind’s gift, or curse, to be inquisitive, and through the ages people have been driven to explore the limits of the worlds known to them—and beyond. Here are the stories of forty of the world’s greatest explorers from Europe, America, Asia, and Australia. These are men and women who changed our perception of the world through their courageous adventures. Organized thematically, the book opens with the oceanic journeys of five hundred years ago, when the great era of recorded exploration began. The following sections look at The Land, Rivers, Polar Ice, Deserts, Life on Earth, and New Frontiers. Many of these explorers recounted their journeys in vivid firsthand accounts; others were superb artists or photographers. The book features quotes from their journals and reports, and it is illustrated with paintings, photographs, engravings, and maps, so that we can experience their adventures through their own eyes and in their own words. Featured explorers include: Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, James Cook, Lewis and Clark, Richard Burton, Samuel de Champlain, David Livingstone, Roald Amundsen, Gertrude Bell, Alexander von Humboldt, Yuri Gagarin, and Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

Venture into the unknown with Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo, the Vikings, and other adventurers to discover the fun facts about exploration with word searches, mazes, coloring pages, and other puzzles.

The early explorers up through those of the early part of the last century were the supreme users of management practices that have been formalized today. Their expeditions had all the characteristics of a business project: goal setting, strategizing, applying finite resources, risk-taking, keeping people, dealing with competitors, and many others. During actual expeditions, the leaders faced many risks, issues, and conflicts that challenge the best leaders today, from small to large enterprises. Like all projects and business ventures, the expeditions met their goal, either partially or entirely, and in some cases even exceeded it or failed it completely. Management Lessons from the Great Explorers selects the most famous, and in some cases infamous, explorers to discuss and analyze the good and bad management practices—even though these explorers may have never called them management practices—they used before, during, and even after their expeditions. Each chapter provides historical background about one explorer and the details about their explorations. The chapters then discuss the challenges the explorers faced when planning and executing their expeditions and examine their successes and failures from a management perspective. The book will help managers to Manage unexpected and potentially catastrophic risks Set goals that open up new horizons Communicate effectively with team members Lead teams through hardships and difficulties The final chapter gives lessons learned that managers may take from the book and apply to their own business undertakings. These lessons include Learning from experience Having a strong sponsor and team Relying on data and information Applying risk management and adapting to changing circumstances Implementing unity of command and defining roles and responsibilities Identifying and understanding stakeholders Being decisive Being willing to say no

A fun, informative, chronological guide to the history of world explorers. This book begins with the ancient explorers, such as Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, and includes the reasons behind exploration, and how technology and exploration have gone hand-in-hand throughout history.

Travel back in time with these fascinating and funny lift-the-flap books! From Dinosaurs to Ancient Egyptians, each humorous scene is packed with facts and interactive flaps that bring history to life.

Live and see the world through the eyes of 50 of the world's greatest explorers and their trusty companions! This book for kids is brimming with first-person accounts of gripping adventures in explorers' own words. Find exciting tales complemented by rare maps, specially commissioned photographs, and artworks that re-create history's greatest expeditions. Get ready to take a leap into the unknown… An adventure book that will surely rival even the most thrilling adventure movies! You'll meet some of the most famous explorers and adventurers of all time in this exciting non-fiction storybook for children. Great explorers have one thing in common - a desire to leap into the unknown, no matter the dangers it presents. This book will take you through Ferdinand Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world 500 years ago to Barbara Hillary's treks to the North and South poles while in her seventies, and beyond. This knowledge book documents the stories of men and women who rewrote our understanding of the world and inspired us by pushing the boundaries of human capability. A kid's educational book that looks at the towering achievements of more than 50 explorers from all walks of life in great detail. See sensational cross-sections revealing the amazing detail inside Spanish galleons, lost cities, and spaceships. Magnificent photographs highlight the artifacts and relics they found along the way, while hand-drawn maps reveal their intrepid journeys in such detail, you feel as though you could be walking in their very footsteps. It is a glorious introduction to history's most famous trailblazers - people whose courage opened frontiers turned voids into maps, forged nations, connected cultures, and added to humankind's knowledge of the world by leaps and bounds. Packed with jaw-dropping fun facts about the world and written so beautifully it will get your heart racing. Explorers is the perfect kid's book for any young mind with an avid sense of adventure! Explore Unknown Waters – Take To The Skies – Investigate Our Planet! For centuries, explorers have been unable to resist the secrets of the sea. We have looked toward the skies and stars since the beginning of time. Through dense jungles, dry desserts, and frozen mountains we have pushed the very limits of human endurance in the name of exploration and adventure! These tales are not for the faint of heart - these adventurers faced challenges that threatened their very survival! Their courage has allowed us to collect a wealth of knowledge about our awe-inspiring universe. Set sail to faraway frozen lands, defy gravity and take to the skies, and investigate our planet through the stories of those who came before us. Happy exploring! Learn about the explorers who defied the so-called possibilities of their time in: - Sea & Ice - Air & Space - And Land

Chart the Golden Age of Exploration, from the Vikings to the circumnavigation of the globe. This book is created in collaboration with the Royal Geographic Society. Covering professional explorers, botanists hunting for undiscovered plants, missionaries spreading Christianity, pioneering women, and the aristocratic and downright eccentric, The Great Explorers takes you to a world still waiting to be discovered. Covering everything from the early Chinese travellers to the first European arrivals in the Americas and beyond, this stunning volume recounts both familiar and unfamiliar voyages through a series of beautiful maps and plans in the explorers' own hand.

A “highly enjoyable” account of six men, and one woman, who journeyed into uncharted and treacherous African terrain to find the source of the White Nile (The Washington Post). Nothing obsessed explorers of the mid-nineteenth century more than the quest to discover the source of the White Nile. It was the planet’s most elusive secret, the prize coveted above all others. Between 1856 and 1876, six larger-than-life men and one extraordinary woman accepted the challenge. Showing extreme courage and resilience, Richard Burton, John Hanning Speke, James Augustus Grant, Samuel Baker, Florence von Sass, David Livingstone, and Henry Morton Stanley risked their lives and reputations in the fierce competition. National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author Tim Jeal deploys fascinating new research to provide a vivid tableau of the unmapped “Dark Continent,” its jungle deprivations, and the courage—as well as malicious tactics—of the explorers. On multiple forays launched into east and central Africa, the travelers passed through almost impenetrable terrain and suffered the ravages of flesh-eating ulcers, paralysis, malaria, deep spear wounds, and even death. They discovered Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria and became the first white people to encounter the kingdoms of Buganda and Bunyoro. Jeal weaves the story with authentic new detail—and examines the tragic unintended legacy of the Nile search that still casts a long shadow over the people of Uganda and Sudan. “A fabulous story…old-fashioned epic adventure.”—The Sunday Times "Superb narrative…a must-read for anyone hoping to understand the internal dynamics of modern state-building in central Africa.”—Booklist