Book details

Why do explorers put themselves in dangerous situations? And, once the worst possible situation occurs, how do they find the resources to survive?

In answering these questions, Benedict Allen weaves a series of tales from his own experience as well as that of other explorers including Columbus, Cortez, Scott, Shakelton, Stanley, Livingstone and their modern counterparts: Joe Simpson and Ranulf Fiennes.

Benedict Allen is the editor of THE FABER BOOK OF EXPLORATION. For the past 20 years he has conducted solo expeditions through the Amazon jungle, along Namibia's Skeleton Coast and across Mongolia's Gobi Desert. These journeys have been transmitted on the BBC. And he has published accounts of them. He regularly gives lectures at the Royal Geographic Society.