Book Description
In this expansive overview, Zoosh explains, 'You are the Explorer Race. Learn about your journey before coming to this Earth, your evolution here and what lies ahead.' Topics range from ETs and UFOs to relationships.
Customer Reviews:
Volume 1 (of 12) The Explorer Race.......2007-05-18
If I had enough money I would buy this book for everyone. Before I forget, it is constructed in the form of questions and answers which draw out in detail material which will cause you to figuratively say, "OK, UNCLE...I surrender; you got me on your side no matter where I thought I was when I began reading." A Harvard Harvard Law corporate lawyer is reading it and appears to be "hooked"; Hare Krishna devotee friends are reading it and responding; many other different friends are reading it. This book is discombobulating, astounding, life changing (because perspective is changed). It has no loopholes; other channeling comes from regions where the inhabitants have stopped growing because their societies have no polarity, no negativity. Everything is very ideal. Material in this book is addressed to US. Far from being beings who have something to be ashamed of, having been born on earth, with nothing very profound to offer any other inhabitants of other places (such as the ideal societies above) - or each other...we are unique and honored (by others) for being here in what we are doing. What ARE we doing??? You must read the book! Nothing you currently understand about yourself or anything prepares you for what Zoosh, end-time historian, gives in this book. Zoosh is the one responsible for its contents. Shapiro is extraordinarily gifted to access Zoosh. You have nearly 600 pages to enjoy. I guarantee you will be changed as a result - for the better, and you will have a "secret" you will want to share with everyone, because it is so good. Don't worry - it doesn't matter what religion you espouse.
Among the contents, just one gives a flavor, the war between the sexes is real, albeit some adjustments are coming to pass (once you read this, relating becomes more fun, however), and why you cannot imagine, in detail. Buy many copies and give them to friends. I am going beyond my comfort zone to do so. EVERYONE needs to see this - no matter your outer calling, label, vocation - . The Explorer Race
Interesting read.......2007-04-03
The explorer race is one of the most challenging books that I read, mainly because of the type of genre (a book channeled by another entity). However, after I got past that notion, the book itself had alot of truth and concepts that can give you a better understanding of life that is here and beyond. One important point to make is that when reading this book is that other dimensions of reality exist beyond most of what we perceive, so to truly benefit from this book come to it with an open mind and you will leave with a new concept of "Reality" and a new mind.
Satisfaction of Human Questioning.......2000-12-08
"These books have satisfied a deep need in me to know the answers to the age-old questions we all have asked: Why is there so much suffering in the world? Will there ever be peace on Earth? Who am I? Why am I here? Where did I come from? The answers to these questions are so awe-inspiring and heart-warming that it is impossible for me to see any members of mankind as anything less than a hero - or divine hero - because these books tell us that we are here on this small planet in all the vastness of creation, of which our universe is a small part, to serve and expand the consciousness of all creation in a truly magnificent way."
One of The Finest channeled books I've come across.......2000-02-22
If you are new to this genre of reading or if you as myself are a well seasoned reader/seeker of truth and new age (I hate that term from the neg. conotations it has generated) info. This book is an excellent source. It is put together very well and the other books in the series are also excellent! I have wide background in this type of info. A lot of which is personal. If you want to learn about the BIG Picture about life on earth and beyond this is a great book for a novice /pro. I'm telling you this book is dead-on. I especially like the fact that the info. here is not in any way fear based or scary. Every Chapter will leave you with good a warm feeling. (his "shinning the light series" deals with the dark issues) The work is pepered with things that you can put into practice. It really ties in all of the other "realites" that you may have come across in other books. Shapiro is a powerfull Channel and his group asks really good questions and have payed attention to all the info. that has come acrosss as in other books by him as well . The main contact is "Zoosh" who is disembodied entity that has a perspective as High and in-depth as our Creator's. (the answer to as why this is so is a great surprise as well) Part of me wants to leakout some of the info. to you that's in the book, but there's to much to choose from, and the topics taken out of context would sound mind-blowing in some cases. Besides I wouldn't want to detract you from your adventure! Read it and find yourself saying AH-HA time and time again! It all makes perfect sense! ---Peace
Mind expanding information about our human origins.......1999-09-28
This is a fascinating and informative description of the origins of humanity. Forget about Darwin, and the pitiful history courses we all took. This stuff is mind-blowing, witty, and a lot of fun. You couldn't make this up -- it's too unique. I've read SF my whole life, and this was a lot better than any SF book! A must-read for seekers of truth.
Book Description
Through both examination of the crop circles and channeled investigation, Crop Circles Revealed explores a new understanding, to help the people of the world and our mother planet survive the millennium.
Scientific formulas of light and sound and the wisdom found in the mythologies of the ages are brought together in this up-to-the-minute 2001 edition. This book lifts the crop circles away from the controversy of who makes them into the wonder of what they represent to us at this critical time in our history.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome book.......2007-04-11
I'm a "croppie" of sorts. I collect info about crop circles and I paint them. This book gives more detailed info about the actual energies present in specific crop circles, than any other book. The living energies of 67 crop circles are explained in detail. Researchers' personal experiences are also explained. The photos are good too.This is the ultimate crop circle book that I know of.
Great book, a must for a serious researcher.......2006-07-07
I use the information on the crops circles on my radionics machines. The explainations are a great help to mankind. For serious research this book is a must. Thanks for their tremendious dedication on bringing this information to mankind at this time. Caroline Connor Radionic Consultant
Spellbinding.......2006-01-04
Having read 'Crop Circles Revealed: Language of the Light Symbols' from cover to cover, I firmly believe that this is a work of almost flawless scholarship and accurate interpretation. The only fault I could find, albeit minor, is the obvious typo in the title; 'crop' should have been spelled with an 'a' not an 'o'.
But can you understand it?.......2005-09-17
From the crop circle/star glyph combo 16 - "This is the triadular desectotron quadraphonic code for the deactivation of plutonium poisoning. This crystalline matrix will be imploded in the consciousness of a team of researchers that will be able to reduce plutonium's half-life to a transmugenative equatronic base that will detoxify radiation poisoning. That is the star gate that the information is coming through. The matrix that is the crystalline geode for this information frequency will be activated in to the consciousness of a team of scientists who are going to resolve the plutonium half-life dilemma. The crop circle is the crystalline matrix for this formula."
Living Information!.......2003-10-08
Crop Circles Revealed, by Judith Moore and Barbara Lamb, engages not only the mind, but the heart and soul of the reader to seek out the truth of this stunningly beautiful phenomena. This work has been impeccably nurtured into form. It is both visually moving and thought provoking. Through the authors' comprehensive interpretation, the reader is drawn into a personal understanding of the crop circles as LIVING INFORMATION. He or she is then empowered to define the crop circle message from their inherent wisdom. This book is an experience. It awakens the spirit to a greater awareness of who we are, and why we are here!
Book Description
This book explores the heart and soul connection between humans and Mother Earth. Through that intimacy, miracles of healing and expanded awareness can flourish. To heal the planet and be healed as well, we can lovingly extend our energy selves out to the mountains and rivers and intimately bond with Earth. Gestures and vision can activate our hearts to return us to a healthy caring relationship with the land we live on.
Customer Reviews:
Will Geo-Political Mudras Transform the World?.......2004-07-13
A very intriguing book of channeled info. Most engaging are the meditations that one can do in hopes of healing the earth and its flora and fauna as well. The author spans the globe, focusing on critical areas such as Lake Titicaca in South America,Hawaii, New Zealand, etc. and gives readings on what healing needs/should be done. I tried a few of the exercises and got some interesting results.
I'd like to see a sequel book on what mudras/ breathing exercises we can do to positively transform the Oval Office, the board room at Monsanto Corporation and Halliburton as well. So if you are reading this Mr. Shapiro-start channeling your spirit guides and get much needed information on how we can accelerate the shift from dark to light.
Jaye Beldo: Netnous@Aol.Com
Amazon.com
British explorer Robert F. Scott spent three years exploring the Antarctic, returning to England a hero in 1904. His ambition was to be the first man to reach the South Pole, and he overcame innumerable obstacles to assemble another expedition, which left in 1910. Scott and three of his men did reach the pole, only to discover that Norwegian Roald Amundsen had been there only five weeks earlier. Slightly more than two months later, Scott and his companions died in their tents, their bodies--and Scott's diaries--found eight months later by a search party. This account of Scott, having followed the explorer from childhood through his naval training and marriage, gives us at the end not only a national symbol but a fully developed tragic hero. Diana Preston commendably ventures beyond the longstanding myth, including material that shows how Scott's decisions and faulty judgements ultimately sealed his fate.
Book Description
On November 12, 1912, a rescue team trekking across Antarctica's Great Ice Barrier finally found what they sought -- the snow-covered tent of the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott. Inside, they made a grim discovery: Scott's frozen body lay between those of two fellow explorers. They had died just eleven miles from the depot of supplies that might have saved them. The remaining two members of the party were nowhere in sight, but Scott's eloquent diary revealed their nightmarishly similar fate. It is a story that continues to haunt the popular imagination, and which has never been told more grippingly or with greater compassion than in this book.
Customer Reviews:
a second rate book.......2006-01-01
The entire thesis of the book is that Scott's fate was a darn good attempt, despite the result. Unfortunately, Ms. Preston's arguments fall flat. By the end, the reader has but no choice but to deem the mission a failure on a grand scale through Scott's incompetence more than anything else.
Ms. Preston's failed arguments have been summed up by other reviewers well, so I won't rehash all of them, but I will add this. One of the aruguments she tries to use that Scott was a product of his time and that his actions, such as the pseudo-scientific mission, were reasonable given the times. However, she then also tries to justify certain actions, such as man-hauling , by stating that this is now fashionable with modern adventurers. Well, you can't rightly defend him both in and out of historical context. It's cherry picking and it's scholarly dishonest.
Ok, given my criticisms above why then did I give it even two stars. Well, it was fairly well written in the story-telling sense, if not logic. I also think it provided a good look into the British colonial mindset, which Ms. Preston still clings to in a lovely wigged-Parliamentarian manner. So while the thesis of the book is laughable, the book does provide some good, if unintended, entertainment. In other words, I finished it.
Good account of the South Pole expedition.......2005-02-15
Diana Preston was written a concise, good book about Robert Falcon Scott who led a 1910-1913 expedition that reached the South Pole. Scott and his four companions died on the return from the Pole, but left journals that told of their ardous journey right up to the end. Scott lost the race to the Pole to Norwegian explorer Raoud Amundson who beat him by a month but in death Scott became a great English hero nevertheless.
Preston's book is not as good as two others about the expedition. Apsley Cherry-Garrard was with Scott for the expedition, but did not accompany Scott to the Pole. His account, "The Worst Journey in the World" is a classic of travel adventure. Roland Huntford's, "The Last Place on Earth" is a blistering attack on Scott's competence and character along with a favorable account of Amundson.
Was Scott incompetent? Well, Amundson made the 1400 mile plus trek to the Pole and back from his base camp in 99 days, averaging about 15 miles per day. Scott averaged less than 10 miles a day, the short Antarctic summer ended, the weather got worse, and he and his companions died. Amundson made good use of skis and dogs; Scott relied on man-hauling his supplies. The British apparently loved Scott in death because of his amateurism, rather than in spite of it. A timely and tragic death can be enhancing to one's reputation.
Preston is generous with Scott and tells a touching story of Scott's relationship with his ambitious and independent wife.
Smallchief
Scott as Tragic Hero.......2003-01-22
Books on North Polar exploration seem to take a pro-Peary or pro-Cook slant. Even the National Geographic Society pushes Peary's claim, because it also helped fund his expedition. So when a book like Bryce's COOK AND PEARY comes out, saying what many of us believed all along, that both men were unscrupulous liars and neither deserve polar priority, it's a breath of fresh air on the subject. Nevertheless, Bryce also tempers this conclusion by saying both men were skilled in extreme conditions and remarkable real achievements below their belts before they started lying on a big scale and claiming for themselves what they had not achieved. Bryce tries in a valiant book to put an end to the nonsense that if Cook failed, Peary won, and vice-versa.
Books on South Polar exploration must be different. Amundsen reached the pole. It's indisputable. Scott died bringing back the proof that he didn't get priority. Because he reached the pole and -- to the anti-Scotteans, more importantly -- he got back. However, Scott's expedition was not a failure. It was, first and foremost, a scientific expedition; Scott wanted polar priority and probably deserved it (Amundsen wanted the north, denied him by the charlatans Cook and Peary, so he jumped Scott's claim).
Scott's reputation, unlike Amundsen's, has undergone a roller coaster ride for almost a century. First he was made a hero. Then the iconoclasts set in. Roland Huntford's book on Scott and Amundsen was the Big Nail for the anti-Scott forces. To them, Huntford's book is gospel, and to question it is to question reality.
But Huntford, a fine biographer of polar explorers (Nansen, Shackleton), was distintly and unapologetically anti-Scott. And while Scott made errors (the biggest being his modern-minded "diversity" in taking seaman Evans along), his expedition was meticulously planned and employed the latest scientific and techonological advances. Solomon's COLDEST MARCH lays some Scott criticism aside (and since Solomon is a scientist who has actually worked in Antarctica her credentials should carry more weight with the anti-Scotteans than it does). Scott and Amundsen were products of their class and their era, but both also had been on polar adventures before and both men knew what they were up against. Scott is often, these days, portrayed by his detractors (euphemism) as mercurial and indecisive and, in some cases (as in the dramatization of Huntford's book) cruel.
In fact, Scott's polar expedition was a tragedy, in the classic sense as well as the modern. Many events beyond his control led to his death, but decisions he made did go woefully wrong. In any event, it seems, in light of more recent evidence than Huntford's, the whole party would have made it back in most years, but conditions were different on that part of the Antarctic than had been scientifically observed previously. Scott made some bad decisions that led to the tragedy, but it also seems he had a run of bad luck, while Amundsen (and this is not a detraction of him to say so) had a run of good luck. It's ironic that Amundsen left a letter for Scott to take back (and he did) in case Amundsen died, but it proves Amundsen knew that, even with his methods, which seem the "right" ones because he lived, he ran the risk of death in those extreme conditions.
In A FIRST RATE TRAGEDY Preston presents her case clearly and with fairness, and without the judgmentalism that mars Huntford's well-researched and iconoclastic study.
To lighten up some on Scott, folks, does not demean Amundsen's achievements. It's not the silly either/or with the partisans for Cook or Peary. Both Amundsen and Scott could have died (probably should have died) and both might well have made it back alive. There seems to be, in the anti-Scotteans, the fear that if someone treats Scott with a modicum of non-judgmentalism and doesn't bludgeon Scott as a downright fool, it somehow makes denigrates Amundsen. Nonsense. Both men were brave, courageous and intrepid leaders. Their men deserve every bit of praise as being the brave men they were. Scott's expedition was more interested in the scientific end and Amundsen's willy-nilly chase for hte pole was an opportunistis to get the fame to do researches in the north, but the achievements of both neither man, unlike Cook and Peary, need to be given proper appreciation without the need to bludgeon the other.
Preston's A FIRST RATE TRAGEDY is a study of Scott whose time has come.
Great book on the polar adventure.......2002-04-11
This is a great tale of the fateful journey of Mr. Scott to the South Pole and the disaster that became him on the return journey.
Instead of rehashing the story of the book in this review, which other reviewers have already done, it's more interesting to focus on the book itself. I notice that many of those who rate this book poorly seem to do so because the author was too sympathetic to Scott, too hard on Schackelton or Amundsen, or point to other works as superior accounts of this historic tale.
I give this work 5 stars for a couple of reasons. First, she develops the inner psyche of each participant, digging into their personalities, explaining what made them tick and how that caused them to make the decisions that they made. Second, it's obvious a well-researched book. The author continually points out inconsistencies between the participants published (and sanitized) works vs. what they said privately in their journals. Third, the story is balanced. I supposed this is a point that other reviewers disagree on, for what one person calls "balanced" another person calls "biased". She points out what they did right and what they did wrong, not dwelling on either point. People who downgrade this book seem to do so because the author didn't berate Scott more for his mistakes and blunders, of which he made many of. However, I'm interested in history, and not finger pointing. Fourth, it's a great story.
The reading of this book is easy and interesting, and I recommend it.
A First Rate Justification.......2001-11-22
Please read other works of Antarctic exploration before you read this book of fiction promoted as a work of historical research. Read books like Huntford's "The Last Place on Earth", Amundsen's "South Pole", Cherry-Garrard's "The Worst Journey in the World", and from Scott's own diaries "The Diaries of Captain Robert Scott" for reliable information on which to make up your own mind about Scott's expedition. Read these books with a nuanced view, using your critical thinking to come up with your own conclusions. I doubt you will agree with Preston's thesis when you have done so.
In my readings, I have identified 31 separate areas in which Scott's methods were inadequate for safe polar travel as compared to his contemporaries (Amundsen, Peary, Cook, Borchgrevink, Nansen, Shackleton, etc.). Could all 31 areas really have been a matter of bad luck, Ms. Preston? I think not.
If this is the only book you are reading on Antarctic exploration, don't even bother. While she writes a good story, it is just that - a story.
Book Description
The incredible true story of Alexander Gordon Laing and the race to discover Timbuktu during the early part of the 19th century––a time when the African continent was still largely uncharted.
In the first decades of 19th century, no place burned more brightly in the imagination of European geographers––and fortune hunters––than the lost city of Timbuktu. Like the mythical city of El Dorado, the very real Timbuktu held the promise of wealth and fame. Whoever got there first was guaranteed worldwide renown. Yet, though many had tried, no European explorer had been there and returned since the Middle Ages. In fact, Europeans knew more about the geography of the moon than they did of North and Central Africa. In 1824, the French Geographical Society offered a cash prize for the first expedition from any nation to return from Timbuktu. The announcement fueled the already intense rivalry between the French and the British for control of the African interior. The British, unwilling to depend on the fate of one explorer, sent several "African travelers" on their way.
The Race for Timbuktu focuses on two of these men: Alexander Gordon Laing, the book's protagonist and "voice," and Hugh Clapperton, the man who would become his greatest rival. Though their superiors had hoped the men would work together, instead the two became fierce opponents, each convinced that discovery of Timbuktu was his fate alone.
The Race for Timbuktu follows Laing and Clapperton on their arduous journeys across the unforgiving Sahara, in constant battle against the elements, illness, attack, and time, to be the first white man to reach the fabled gates of Timbuktu. The story of their expeditions also serves as a narrative history of the European colonization of Africa including the competition between England and France to stake out African claims, the collusions of Arabs and Africans against Europeans over the slave trade, and the violent confrontation of Islam with Christianity. As a result of the "Great Scramble" launched by African travelers' missions, in less than a century, nearly every square yard of Africa would be occupied by European nations.
The Race for Timbuktu offers a close personal look at the extraordinary people and pivotal events of 19th century African exploration that changed the course of history and the shape of the modern world.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating Adventures.......2007-05-10
This is a tale of hardships, courage, greed, betrayal, stubbornness and determination that reveals much about the men that searched for Timbuktu and the mouth of the Niger River at the beginning of the age of European exploration in central sub-Saharan Africa.
The men who undertook the dangerous journeys came from a diverse range of backgrounds but they all shared some personality traits. Determination to fulfil their objectives and courage in the face of extreme hardships are the common threads that linked the major figures even when they were in contest with each other.
The names of most of these explorers are unfamiliar to the average reader but their adventures into Africa and their successes, in accomplishing the objectives set for them by the Foreign Offices and Societies who funded them, shaped the colonial and post-colonial world of Africa.
The writing is not the best of this genre but the material allows the reader to overlook convoluted sentences and the occasional poorly edited paragraphs and some questionable statements of facts. The men who were participants, willing and unwilling, in the early years of primarily British exploration of central and west Africa are drawn from the pages of journals, books and letters of the actors. It is interesting, and enlightening, to read of the complexities of the political dynamics of the region. The rulers and advisers of the regions into which these explorers went were well informed about affairs as far removed from them as British activities in India. Much of what was lost by the over whelming forces of colonialism is glimpsed in the descriptions of the people of the regions by the explorers.
It is in the end an account that helps the reader to understand the manner in which Africa was opened up to the rest of the world regardless of the desires and needs of its inhabitants. The overwhelming changes that would come after Laing and his contemporaries had mapped the area are for another book. These men were products of their time and must be seen as such. Kryza does a good job at doing just that. Their courage and determination were beyond question. Laing, Clapperton, Denham, among others, may have faded from public memory but they helped change Africa forever.
Fun read but.......2006-12-24
The Race For Timbuktu is a fun and interesting read. It does a good job of covering the voyages of Alexander Laing and those who proceeded him. The writing is generally good and the story well told.
In short, Timbuktu was a legendary city of gold and wealth in the middle of Africa. A sort of Shangri-La that really existed, even if not in the wealth imagined. Given the importance of Africa to the European powers at the start of the 19th century, France and England raced to find the fabled city and the source of the Niger River. The book focuses on England's explorers such as Denham, Chapperton and Oudney. Followed by a solid biography of Alexander Laing, who eventually discovered Timbuktu. In the process a good glimpse of European affairs in the Sahara is provided.
So why only three stars? First this book needs maps-- desperately. I am amazed how many books I have read lately lack them. How hard is it for a publisher to get a map, draw the routes taken by multiple explorers on them and publish them in the book? Somehow it seems obvious and yet where are they? Second some pictures might be nice so one can see, or glimpse the regions described. Third, the author often repeats himself. How many times do we need to know Emma Warrington took unescorted walks with the son of the French Ambassador?
Fourth and most important, the author does little to provide African context for the events. Cities, empires, and rulers appear in the narrative, but little is said about them. This especially hurts when a people, the Taureg tribe, appear over and over with very little context. I recommend reading this book with one's internet link to Wikipedia or Encylcopedia Britannica open to answer obvious questions.
One last little thing, on P. 149 the author refers to Herodotus documenting a Roman garrison. Herodotus pre-dates roman times by a few centuries and did not write on Rome but on Greece and Persia. He also places a city in the Sudan which is clearly in Nigeria. Other mistakes may be present.
Not a Park in the Walk.......2006-06-24
This is the story of man's perserverance beyond the borders of sanity. Though the main story is about Laing and Clapperton, it is the story of everyman who ever wondered what was on the other side of the mountain; and also to find a fabled city of gold such as El Dorado, Shangri-La or the fountain of youth.
The book itself is written in a straight forward manner and in some ways is more travelogue than historical narrative. When at his best, Kryza gives us the story behind the story and when available from the travellers own journals, their own reasons for going into 'the white mans grave yard'.
All of these 'African Travellers' were men of single mind (if not slight insanity) to find either the fabled gold city of Timbuktoo or the mouth of the Niger River. Now the last may seem easy or ridiculous (since they already were busy on this part of the river) except that the river had so many names for different parts. Europeans only knew the Niger by this name on the upper part that could be reached overland from the Gambian coast of west africa. The bottom of the river was known as the Oil River (because of what floated on top of the river naturally), but no one had followed it's full length. Mostly because of rapids and hostile tribes.
These men who walked or rode camels across some of the most desolate land in the world, never seemed to understand how the harsh climate had molded the men who lived in it. At some times they were past the level of naivete that you would expect from grown men. They complain in their journals about sand and desert and lack of water, but what were they expecting to find. A crossing of such hostile land couldn't be a walk in the park since there were no parks to walk in.
In truth none of these men was a true explorer, in the sense of Stanley or Lewis/Clark, in that they all hoped for acclaim and glory as their reward. The reward was what they hoped for first, and exploring was only a way to get there. But needless to say these were brave, if foolish men.
Kryza does a great job in keeping the action up and keeping us interested in who was doing what, and who got to where first, and who was trying to prevent some one else from getting there first and why.
Narrows the focus to two men whose goals fostered a heated competition to win.......2006-05-20
Early 19th century adventurers and fortune hinters were enthralled by the story of a lost city which no European had seen, which held riches galore. The wide-ranging and popular legend would foster rival attempts to reach this mysterious place: attempts chronicled in fast-paced adventure in THE RACE FOR TIMBUKTU: IN SEARCH OF AFRICA'S CITY OF GOLD. Europeans eager to exploit the resources of Africa's mysterious lands were fascinated by the legend of Timbuktu, and in 1924 the French Geographical Society offered a cash prize for the first expedition from any nation to return from Timbuktu. THE RACE FOR TIMBUKTU narrows the focus to two men whose goals fostered a heated competition to win.
Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch
High Adventure!.......2006-05-17
These expeditions make Lewis and Clark's look like a walk in the park. Where did these explorers get their grit, stamina, inspiration? ... especially those who had an idea of the hardships ahead. Thirsty, malnourished and wounded, they walk distances in 110 degrees that have killed their camels only to spend days digging a well that may or may not yield water. If you hit water, you fight with your entire caravan (man and beast) to have a crack at the sludge.
Kryza is at his best when he describes, be it a person, a relationship, dynamic or a place. His descriptions of Warrington, the Laing-Emma romance, Clapperton and Denham add dimension to the tale as do the discussions of the strange diplomacy in this Tripoli outpost.
Intriguing pictures are placed very nicely with the text they relate to. Kryza loves his material, and he gets us to love it too.
Whether you try the desert route or the Niger, the environment and the unpredictable people take toll on life itself. Fortunately, Kryza restrains description here so that this is pallatable for a general audience. While we might flinch from the page, we can read on.
I did wish for an earlier map than p. 88, and one that encompassed all routes described. Also, I didn't check the table of contents, so I wasn't aware what the race was. I kind of thought it was something that would emerge with Clapperton and Denham. The race actually begins half way through the book. The descriptions of the earlier expeditions are merely prologue. Perhaps a different title is needed, since the book is much wider than the "race".
I like having an afterward. (I've put down many books with long forwards, probably because I wasn't steeped enough in the story to appreciate the author's comments.) I also like the narrative chapter notes.
Book Description
This volume in the Explorer Race series focuses on humanity's origins and the near future. It covers the origins of this creation, why negative attributes were needed and how various races came to be.
Book Description
Now in paperback, the real story of Captain Robert Scott's legendary Antarctic quest, told by the man whom the Guinness Book of World Records has proclaimed "the world's greatest living explorer"
In 1911, Captain Robert Scott and his competitor Roald Amundsen conquered the unconquerable: Antarctica. This perilous race to the South Pole claimed the life of Scott and became the stuff of legend, as well as scrutiny. This compelling, meticulously researched history of Captain Scott and his fatal journey, by renowned modern-day explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, holder of 10 expeditionary records, is the definitive account of this hotly debated quest.
Fiennes offers an account of Scott's motivations and aspirations for the Pole, and his historic clash with Amundsen over goals and approaches. He also reveals the unpredictably disastrous weather patterns that led to the extreme cold that ultimately doomed Scott's return trip. Infused with the intensity of fiction and exhibiting an exhaustive eye for detail found in the greatest historical biographies, Race to the Pole is a prodigious achievement and certain to become a classic in the literature of exploration.
Customer Reviews:
Mildly informative, but ultimately far too biased.......2006-12-07
Having read "Last Place on Earth", this book, and the journals of Scott, Wilson, Bowers, Evans, and Cherry-Garrard, I can safely say that this book carefully cultivates on the most positive aspects of Scott, while hiding almost all of the negative; the little that was mentioned was casually dismissed as no fault of his own.
Fiennes, a seemingly obsessive fan of Scott himself, has gone to great lengths to recreate Scott's manhauling techniques (albeit with modern clothing, gear, and expedition food) in his own transarctic expedition, if only to show that it can be done today. He completely wallpapers over the mistakes in Scott's assessment of dogs, skis, clothing, nutrition, and caloric intake, as well as Scott's poor judgement in setting cairns, preventing fuel loss, staying in tents during moderately bad weather, navigating, and stopping for scientific samples when his time and supplies were running short. This clearly shows this work to be more propaganda than a neutral look at the evidence.
However, Fiennes brings out important background information on Scott not found in print today that proves helpful in better understanding Scott. For that, I bump up my rating to 2 stars.
Awe Inspiring Story.......2006-08-14
This is a great book. Scott and his men are true heroes. Their fortitude in the face of severe privation, relentless bone chilling cold and unimaginable pain and suffering is nothing short of awesome. Like the soldiers mentioned in the book who found inspiration in Scott's story, I too can now tap into an inner strength I didn't know I had. Thank you Sir Fiennes!
A completely biased anti-Huntford book.......2006-07-13
I read this book several months ago wondering how an author who had experienced arctic and antarctic conditions himself could ignore all problematic aspects of Scott's ill fated last expedition.
This is not just about setting the record "straight" concerning "The last place on earth". It is plainly an ambush on Mr. Huntfords personal integrity.
However what bothered me most were the gratuitous snipes about Mr. Huntford's ancestry. The fact that his birth name was Horowitz and he later changed it to Huntford qualifies the books he has written is implausible. Could it be an attempt to produce anti-semitic sentiments?
Having read about Scott and Amundsen since 1973 I have always thought that Scott made major mistakes and was not just defeated by bad luck.
Even though Solomon showed that the weather conditions were probably worse than on average it does not explain away the problems of planning and executing an expedition that was doomed from the beginning because of a faulty or completely missing plan(e.g. transport, horseshoes, navigation, etc., etc.). Analyzing what seeemingly worked on other expeditions (e.g. parroting Shackleton by only using white pony's) using Shackleton's timetable as a clock to race against and belitteling his achievements instead of analyzing problems and learning from mistakes as even Preston pointed out in her sometimes apologetical book "A first rate tragedy". However in contrast to Fiennes she tries to analyze problems in the end.
Perhaps Fiennes was personally hurt by Huntford's book because
he to is an enthusiastic man-hauler as were three of the British man going to the pole.
In contrast while there is a pro-Amundsen bias in "The last palce on earth" I think the facts speak for themselves and the analysis of Huntford. (Of course as anyone can tell I am biased pro-Huntford)
Fienne's opinion on the .......2005-06-03
This is an opinionated retelling of the experience of Captain Robert Scott's attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole. Although Mr. Fiennes has great experience as a Polar explorer in his own right, his claim to be the only author in a position to comment on Scott's decisions, does little to prove he is giving us an objective history of the expedition. Fiennes takes every opportunity to make Scott appear to be a selfless and overly self critical hero, interested primarily in scientific discovery, who was loved by all who are worthy, and has the sole claim to the greatest physical achievement in history. He makes Roald Amundsen out as a selfish, unpleasant, and dangerous man with no friends. Although it is an interesting point of view, it will not satisfy readers who are looking for objective history.
Man-hauler Critiques Man-hauler.......2005-01-28
This is a frustrating book, where a modern artic manhauling ace is "objectively" debunking the critics of Scott, one of the pioneers of artic man-hauling who died with 2 of his comrades only 11 miles from safety after a 1200 mile round-trip trek to the south pole in 1911-1912. The book is very defensive of Scott, and seems squarely aimed at the revisionist analysis of Roland Huntford, about whom he leaves little doubt what he thinks. While Fiennes goes out of his way to attack Huntford's more sensational claims about the personal lives of the actors, and the allegedly duplicitous methods of gaining access to historical material, he unwittingly time and again reinforces Huntford's main assertion: that Scott was from the start in a race for his life against the elements, starvation, and scurvy and knew it, yet made many decisions that hurt his chances. Fiennes' frequent interludes about his own artic man-hauling experiences, while admirable on their own, are distracting in the flow of the narrative and are unhelpful within the context of which Scott made his decisions. After reading Fiennes' book I certainly have a better feeling for the "pro-Scott" side of the debate, and the antipathy directed at Huntford (a modern substitute for Amundsen?), but I don't have any fuller insight into the tragedy of the events. In some respects Fiennes' book is an updated treatment of the Edwardian issue heroic Scott biography, with his own travelogue interspersed. The book is very readable, but ulimately unsatisfying.
Customer Reviews:
Map lovers take note.......2005-03-11
This book is a history of exploration of the North American continent, revealed mainly in pictures and maps of the particular exploration. It starts with John Cabot's exploration off the coast of Newfoundland in 1497, and ends with Peary's race to the North Pole in 1909. Scores of important exploring ventures are described and mapped. An added feature is a very thorough bibliography. A feast for the eye--and mind.
A beautiful but flawed book..........2002-07-24
In creating this book of maps, the authors have not merely stepped on one of my pet peeves. They have kicked it, stomped it, gouged it, whipped it, and beaten it with a stick. My pet peeve is maps that have no mileage scale. I see it all too often in newspapers and magazines. Maybe ignorant reporters and editors can be excused. But how can these scholars give us an entire book of maps without a single mileage scale? Besides knowing the routes of the explorers, we want to know how far was their journey from one point to another.
I would like to know why mileage scales were omitted. Did the editor think people would use the maps for navigation and sue the publisher for any errors? If this omission was just an accidental oversight, then it should have been corrected before the book was published. Please explain.
But, that said, this is a beautiful and interesting book. Most of the maps are a full page, and each map is accompanied by a page summarizing the accomplishments of each journey and its importance. Also, many of the maps are accompanied by a contemporary drawing, painting, litho, etc. that illustrates the journey. Students of early North American explorations will enjoy this book. If the authors will revise it and add mileage scales to the maps, then I'll raise my rating to a 5.
Valuable. Only a few criticisms........1999-05-13
This atlas serves a real need for any serious student of North American history. The alternative is to chase down many sources that have individualized map information for individual explorers.
In some cases, however, the colors are difficult to actually discern. There is so many route information, with so many colors that are similar, that it is difficult to distinguish one route from another.
Also, a stated map scale of both miles and kilometers for each map would be helpful.
Otherwise great! -- in my opinion.
Why is the atlas no longer in print, at least at present?
Are the authors planning a revised copy?
I'd like the authors to know about this, and receive a big pat on the back from this old history student and high school history teacher.
Les Falk, Kelowna, BC, Canada
Average customer rating:
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Blizzard-Race To The Pole
Jasper Rees , and
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Scott of the Antarctic: A Life of Courage and Tragedy
ASIN: 0563493267
Release Date: 2007-08-28 |
Book Description
At the beginning of the last century, reaching the South Pole was the greatest terrestrial journey left to man. By the spring of 1912, the race was over—Robert Falcon Scott was dead and Roald Amundsen, the victor, was on his way home. Ever since, a debate has raged over whether Scott was an arrogant incompetent or whether he was the victim of bad luck. This book attempts to answer the question by re-running the race. Two teams, among the world’s greatest adventurers, will be equipped entirely in the style of the original expeditions. The difference will be that both teams will start at the same time and from points within ten kilometers of each other. Now, for the first time, it will be possible to see whether it was luck or judgment that led Amundsen to victory and Scott to his death.
Book Description
"Nail-biting true adventure."—Kirkus Reviews
In 1909, two men laid rival claims to this crown jewel of exploration. A century later, the battle rages still. This book is about one of the most enduring and vitriolic feuds in the history of exploration. "What a consummate cur he is," said Robert Peary of Frederick Cook in 1911. Cook responded, "Peary has stooped to every crime from rape to murder."
They had started out as friends and shipmates, with Cook, a doctor, accompanying Peary, a civil engineer, on an expedition to northern Greenland in 1891. Peary's leg was shattered in an accident, and without Cook's care he might never have walked again. But by the summer of 1909, all the goodwill was gone. Peary said he had reached the Pole in September 1909; Cook scooped him, presenting evidence that he had gotten there in 1908.
Bruce Henderson makes a wonderful narrative out of the claims and counterclaims, and he introduces fascinating scientific and psychological evidence to put the appalling details of polar travel in a new context. 16 pages of illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
Terrific "true life" adventure.......2007-08-26
This is a must for fans of arctic exploration. A terrific story, well told. The account is not an attempt to boost the claims of either Peary or Cook. Rather it is a riveting account of the facts as best we can know them, leaving the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. If you are familiar with the book or TV series "The Last Place on Earth" recounting the race to the South Pole by Scott and Amundsen, you will want to read this book. There are some obvious comparisons of the two men's personalities, but the overall story of "True North" is even more rich. One of the best nonfiction reads you are likely to encounter.
Who Was First?.......2007-07-07
If you are a lover of Arctic adventure and history this is a must read!
Bruce Henderson does a great job comparing the two men who claimed to be first to the North Pole. Was it Peary? Was it Cook? This is so well written and interesting you'll find it hard to put down. I have always had my opinion as to who can rightfully claim the title of "First", but after this book, I changed my mind. You may do the same. Each explorers journey is detailed along with a close look at thier personality and inter-action with others. I guarantee you will love this book!
Peary: Egomaniac.......2007-06-18
My wife bought this for me suspecting, as a land surveyor, I would find it interesting. I did ... and then some! Learned some facinating history of the race to the North Pole. Something we don't think much about these days. Cook and Peary's adventure has very little - yet much to do land surveying, (the mathematics/observations). Much of our profession's "roots" come from the U.S. Coast and Geological Survey mentioned in this fine history book. The story was absolutely enthralling! Thanks be to the author for taking us to the "end" with Dr. Cook - such a humble "gentleman"! Such a sad ending.
A Race Not To Be Missed!.......2007-05-25
It is often difficult to translate history into a compelling story. Bruce Henderson, however, managed beautifully in True North. It was a terrific read, with all of the action of a adventure novel, but wonderfully documented and (near as I can tell) historically on point.
It was a post-hospital read following the birth of my last baby, and despite my exhaustion, I had a difficult time putting it down.
Bruce Henderson does it again!.......2006-12-14
If you're not acquainted with the writings of Bruce Henderson, you don't know what you're missing. It is no wonder that every reviewer here gives "True North" a five star rating. I'm sure if there were a higher rating, his readers would endow Henderson with it. He is a masterful story teller and his writing skills transport the reader, almost step by step, in the lives of which he writes.
Bruce Henderson's meticulous and comprehensive research brings to light what may be our country's Dreyfus case - how Dr. Frederick Cook was robbed of the credit and fame of being the first man to reach the North Pole. Conventional (and what Henderson establishes as superficial) thinking credits Admiral Perry with being the discoverer of the North Pole but reading Henderson, you accompany both Cook and Perry on their quests to reach the pole. Readers share their elation of their successes and share their disappointments and frustrations at their failings. However, after reading Henderson's well referenced account (sixteen pages of references to source records), one must conclude that modest Dr. Cook was not only was the first to reach the North Pole but that he reached that goal over a year before the flamboyant Admiral Perry!
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