Great Desert Explorers

Andrew Goudie

• Publisher: Silphium Press
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781900971485

Desert exploration, like climbing Everest or polar expeditions, is not for the faint-hearted, and many of the vivid tales within this fascinating biographical history end in tragedy. However, the informative and absorbing descriptions of the extraordinary journeys, challenges and achievements of these intrepid figures, are captivating. They risked their lives variously for good old fashioned epic adventure, solitude, fame, the answer to mythical questions and some were even spies. They experienced fear, excitement and hardship in their journeys into the unknown. There are many books on exploration but remarkably few on desert exploration. Moreover, some of the great desert explorers of the last three hundred years are now very little remembered or appreciated in comparison, say, with those who ventured to the poles, climbed Everest, or sought the source of the Nile. Yet, crossing unknown deserts is no less challenging. This volume finally brings these Great Desert Explorers into the limelight, with short, illustrated biographies of around 60 of the most interesting, intrepid and important explorers of the world's greatest deserts. There is also a brief introduction to each desert region. The many original quotations, illustrations and maps, contemporary figures, as well as plates of a range of desert landscapes make this a colorful, lively and informative read.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Preface
• The Explorers
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Arabia, the Middle East and Iran
• Chapter 2 South America
• Chapter 3 Australia
• Chapter 4 China and Central Asia
• Chapter 5 Ethiopia and Eritrea
• Chapter 6 India and Pakistan
• Chapter 7 Libya and Egypt
• Chapter 8 Southern Africa
• Chapter 9 North America
• Chapter 10 North Africa
• Bibliography
• Index