Geographical discovery and exploration Books

Dazzling, poetic and vivid storytelling from one of Australia's greatest writers, which tells the bloody, brutal and enthralling story of the epic journey of the First Fleet. Originally published as a multi-part serial in The Australian, By Sea and...

‘One of the non-fiction books of the year.’ Andrew O’ Hagan A powerful, evocative and deeply personal journey into the world of missing people When Francisco Garcia was just seven years old, his father, Christobal, left his family. Unemployed, addicted...

"GRIPPING. ... One of the greatest polar rescue efforts ever mounted." —Wall Street JournalThe riveting true story of the largest polar rescue mission in history: the desperate race to find the survivors of the glamorous Arctic...

‘Hugely readable and entertaining’ JIM AL-KHALILI‘An accessible and crystal-clear portrait of this discipline’s breadth, largely told through its history’ PHIL BALL, PHYSICS WORLD Einstein’s Fridge tells the story of how scientists uncovered the least...

In the tradition of Dava Sobel's ‘Longitude’ comes sailing expert David Barrie's compelling and dramatic tale of invention and discovery – an eloquent elegy to one of the most important navigational instruments ever created, and the daring mariners who...

A new edition to mark the centenary Ernest Shackleton's epic 1916 journey across 1300 kms of hostile ocean in a tiny, leaking boat and unmapped ice and snow to reach a rescue station by British-Australian explorer Tim Jarvis,...

Journal of a Tour of Discovery Across the Blue Mountains in New South Wales in the Year 1813 was first published in 1823. It is a romantic and descriptive narrative of the journey to find a path across the Blue Mountains and received a great reception...

A riveting and illuminating exploration of the transatlantic slave trade by an intrepid team of divers seeking to reclaim the stories of their ancestors.“For me, Enslaved is an attempt to give a voice to the millions whose voices were...

"A trailblazer in the field of premodern global history, Andrea here guides readers through the medieval expansion of the 'first Europe' from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries. Ranging from Ireland to Ethiopia, from the Mongol Empire to the so-called...

Excerpts from her personal correspondence and passages from her published autobiography combine to produce a vivid first-person account revealing her interests, opinions and experiences, along with all the pleasures and frustrations of prolonged overseas...

In this personal journey, ultra-light backpacker and sought-after speaker Glen Van Peski shares the life lessons he has learned through years of lightening his pack and helping others.Adventures provide the richness and texture to a life well lived. So...

A groundbreaking reassessment of existing research and new data on traditional botanical medicine.Traditional medical systems continue to impact the lives of people around the globe. These systems vary greatly in their underlying beliefs, but all...

Arctic historian Ken McGoogan approaches the legacy of nineteenth-century explorer Sir John Franklin from a contemporary perspective and offers a surprising new explanation of an enduring Northern mystery.Two of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin's...

Beautifully produced and a perfect gift for travellers newly wedded or not - by turn funny, tender, acerbic and charming.Includes extracts from: Paul Bowles, Dorothy Sayers, D. H. Lawrence, Byron, Tolstoy, Flaubert, Dorothy Parker, A. N. Wilson,...

Surprisingly, the remarkable story of the Scottish role in the discovery of the Northwest Passage a long desired trade route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific has not received a great deal of attention. This book charts the extensive contribution to...

What if a book, based on science fact, showed that Atlantis was a real place, a lush island that once existed in the Atlantic? A book that provides overwhelming evidence that Atlantis once likely existed. That would be a game-changer. "Solving the...

"Few artists are also historians, and few historians have the talent to illustrate the people and events they study. [Gordon Miller's] paintings of ships under sail, wrecked on a lee shore, in storms and in cities are luminous."-Pacific YachtingIn...

In his hair-raising adventures across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, Chris Thorogood treads a death-defying path over cliffs, up erupting volcanoes, through typhoons, and out into the very heart of the world's vast, green wilderness. Along...

From the Los Angeles Times Book Prize-winning historian, the colourful, dramatic story of Charles Darwin's journey on HMS Beagle that inspired the evolutionary theories in his path-breaking books On the Origin of Species and The Descent of Man.When...

Navigations re-examines the Portuguese voyages of discovery by placing them in their medieval and Renaissance settings. It shows how these voyages grew out of a crusading ethos, as well as long-distance trade with Asia and Africa and developments in...