What do you know about Bhutan? Probably not very much, apart perhaps from it being a Himalayan kingdom somewhere up around Nepal and Tibet. Even now Bhutan is a remote and inaccessible corner of the world. There is no British embassy or other representation – the nearest consulate is in Kolkata (Calcutta) – all visits… Read More
Author: Tony Turton
This is an account of an eccentric journey by an eccentric Englishman. Nicholas Crane is the man who, a few weeks after getting married, left his wife at home while he spent 18 months walking along the watershed of Europe from Galicia to Istanbul. Five years later, in 1997, equipped with his trademark umbrella and… Read More
On one level, Benedict Allen has compiled an impressive volume of accounts of exploration throughout history that can be enjoyed as heroic adventures and tales of “derring-do”. But I can’t help feeling depressed as I read story after story of exploitation, greed, cruelty and murder, often carried out in the name of “civilisation” or religion.… Read More
Most of this book (full title: Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine) is a biography of George Mallory, followed by a short account of the expeditions after his death in 1924 which throw significant light on his and Irvine’s fate. Only the last few chapters relate the events of the 1999 expedition… Read More
Anyone writing more than a simple account of a visit to Antarctica is faced with the problem of which aspects to cover — the narrative, descriptive, historical, scientific, political, and (for many) spiritual aspects of their experience. Sara Wheeler was lucky enough to spend several months in Antarctica, and her book sets out to cover… Read More