B>Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air is the true story of a 24-hour period on Everest, when members of three separate expeditions were caught in a storm and faced a battle against hurricane-force winds, exposure, and the effects of altitude, which ended in the worst single-season death toll in the peak's history./b> In March 1996, Outside magazine sent veteran journalist and seasoned climber Jon Krakauer on an expedition led by celebrated Everest guide Rob Hall. Despite the expertise of Hall and the other leaders, by the end of summit day, eight people were dead. Krakauer's book is at once the story of the ill-fated adventure and an analysis of the factors leading up to its tragic end. Written within months of the events it chronicles, Into Thin Air clearly evokes the majestic Everest landscape. As the journey up the mountain progresses, Krakauer puts it in context by recalling the triumphs and perils of other Everest trips throughout history. The author's own anguish over what happened on the mountain is palpable as he leads readers to ponder timeless questions.b>One of the inspirations for the major motion picture Everest, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Keira Knightley./b>
Aiming to track down a small oasis town deep in the Sahara, Annie Hawes leaves her home in the olive groves of Italy and sets off along the south coast of the Mediterranean. This title follows her journey, where she discovers that life at a date-farming oasis is not so simple and uncomplicated as she has imagined.
Archaeologist, spy, Arabist, linguist, author, poet, photographer, mountaineer and nation builder, Gertrude Bell was born in 1868 into a world of privilege and plenty. This title presents her story. It is a portrait of a woman who transcended the restrictions of her class and age and in so doing created a remarkable and enduring legacy.
Feturing thought-provoking, poignant and funny true-life travel pieces, this work gathers together some of Ireland's top women writers. It includes authors such as: Martina Devlin; Julie Parsons; Morag Prunty; Louise East; and Clare Downling who writes about her encounter with a Don Johnson lookalike on a visit to Dublin.
Alison Wearing went on a trip beyond the legacy of revolution, religious fundamentalism and veiled women to find the real people of Iran. Posing as a honeymooner, but accidentally on purpose setting out on her own at every opportunity, Alison Wearing reveals an irresistible curiosity at every turn. With a novelist's love of language and an eye for dramatic detail, she takes the reader into the homes and hearts of the people who welcome her, feed her, and send her off on one adventure after the other. Alison goes to hidden places of interest that recall the romance of Persia, on interminable trips into the desert, and to fading palaces by the sea - wherever she finds herself, she offers startling insights into daily life in Iran, an enigmatic country. HONEYMOON IN PURDAH is beautifully written, fresh and fascinating at every turn, and is a glorious account of a hardcore holiday. 'We are presented with the view from behind a pair of hungry, sensitive and wholly human eyes - a vivid and endearing picture of Iran's people' - Independent on Sunday
Accompanying a four-part TV series, presenter and Oxford geography don Nick Middleton visits the world's hottest, coldest, wettest and driest inhabited places on earth. He looks at how humans adapt physically and psychologically, how the flora and fauna adapt, and considers ecological aspects.
