Geographical discovery and exploration Books

This classic, scholarly history of the fur trappers and traders of the early nineteenth century focuses on the devices that enabled the opening of the untracked American west. Sprinkled with interesting facts and old western lore, this guide to traps and...

Some myths don't die, and lies are still being told about Christopher Columbus: that he "discovered" the Americas (not only was the land familiar to native inhabitants, but it had also been visited before by Europeans), that the land was sparsely...

"War, reclamation, and what Tim O'Brien called 'the Lives of the Dead' are eternal literary themes for men. Clay Bonnyman Evans has honored that lineage with this masterful melding of military history and personal quest."-Ron Powers, co-author of New...

Thailand is known for its picturesque beaches and famous temples, but there's much more to this popular holiday destination than many realise.A Brief History of Thailand offers an engaging look at the country's last 250 years -from...

Sultans, Spices, and Tsunamis: The Incredible Story of the World's Largest Archipelago Indonesia is by far the largest nation in Southeast Asia and one of the largest countries in the world and is fourth largest in terms of population. Indonesian history...

A wondrous story of scientific endeavor-probing the great ice sheets of Antarctica.From the moment explorers set foot on the ice of Antarctica in the early nineteenth century, they desired to learn what lay beneath. David J. Drewry provides an insider's...

How the rise of the West was a temporary exception to the predominant world orderWhat accounts for the rise of the state, the creation of the first global system, and the dominance of the West? The conventional answer asserts that superior technology,...

Between 1492 and 1914, Europeans conquered 84 percent of the globe. But why did Europe establish global dominance, when for centuries the Chinese, Japanese, Ottomans, and South Asians were far more advanced? In Why Did Europe Conquer the World?, Philip...

1606 marked the first European sighting of Australia, when the Dutch ship Duyfken landed on Cape York. This gripping book tells the stories of the seafaring explorers, shipwrecks and mutinies that followed, including the voyages of Torres and La Perouse,...

This rugged new translation-the first entirely new English translation in half a century and the only one based on the most recent critical edition of the Guatemalan MS-allows Daz to recount, in his own battle-weary and often cynical voice, the...

Australians have long been tempted by the lure of the ice to the south, and our Antarctic stories are filled with mystery, exploration, adventure, ground-breaking science, tragedy, and triumph. The Antarctic region was taking shape in the Australian...