Epic Adventure: Epic Voyages

by Mundy, Robyn; Rigby, Nigel

• ISBN13: 9780753465745
• ISBN10: 0753465744
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-05-24
• Publisher: Kingfisher

Summary

It takes a certain kind of adventurer to sail off into the unknown of the world's oceans, sailing by the stars, alone in the vastness of a life at sea. Join an accomplished sailor for the stories of five epic mariners who set off on some of the great ocean journeys ever undertaken. Learn the art and skill of sailing from great square-riggers to the smallest craft. Learn what it takes to survive at sea, and how great sailors must adapt to challenging conditions like unpredictable weather, physical hardship, sleep deprivation, and unforeseen perils. Find out what survival strategies succeeded, and which failed-with tragic results. Illustrated throughout with maps, photographs, posters and eye-popping gatefolds, this book is the perfect introduction to the incredible distances and epic challenges of a life at sea.

Author Biography

The polar regions and their oceans have been the backdrop of Robyn Mundy's life for 14 years. She has over-wintered with emperor penguins in Antarctica, and regularly roams the high seas as an Assistant Expedition Leader on ship-based tours to wild, remote places. Robyn lives in Australia and has had a lifelong passion for the Heroic Era of polar exploration. Her novel, The Nature of Ice, was published in 2009.

 

Nigel Rigby is Head of Research at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK. He joined the Museum in 1996 to curate a gallery on Britain's imperial maritime trade.  His own research interests lie in exploration, particularly the European exploration of the Pacific Ocean. With colleagues, he has
written two books on exploration, based on the Museum's fine Pacific collections:
Captain Cook in the Pacific (2002) and Pioneers of the Pacific (2005).

Table of Contents

The Horn Book

Informative and accessible, each book contains archival images, detailed maps, and poster-size foldout pages that, in turn, add interest and variation to the texts.

 

Library Media Connection

Through photos, maps, and lots of primary -source quotes, readers will follow these intrepid explorers along their journeys and learn about the hardships and dangers they faced.Of special interest are a section on famous women climbers, scans of Cook's request for trip supplies, and some old maps that show just how much these explorers contributed to our knowledge. Anecdotes about shark fishing and fording the rivers of K2 on camelback add human interest. . . . The best thing about these books is the careful attention to detail...

 

Booklist

As with a museum visit, the graphics will grab readers in these exciting, extra-large-size titles in the Epic Adventure series, packed with high-quality color photos on every double-page spread. Just as gripping are the narratives, captions, and technical details of exploration, adventure, and survival.

 

Infodad.com

Beautifully produced and visual impressive, both Epic Adventure volumes will bring readers thrills while at the same time providing a great deal of fascinating historical information – making them books that teach successfully in a visually focused age.

 

Kirkus Reviews

Here is an instance of book design being as exciting as the subject matter, and this subject matter is pretty wild stuff. . . . The text is intelligently written and allows the miraculous nature of each voyage to propel the story forward. The extended captions are the color commentary, adding bright bits of information that round out the picture. . . . The selection of artwork is excellent . . .handsome, moody engravings . . . lively watercolors.

 

Tucsoncitizen.com

this epic topic [is] both accessible and exciting.

 

School Library Journal

The brief narratives describe the voyages of Magellan, Cook, Shackleton, Heyerdahl, and Chichester and give details of their journeys, why the men embarked on them, and what was going on in the world at the time. . . . Young readers will enjoy browsing through [this book].