This is a book about one of the first recorded pilgrims who climbed
Mount Sinai; it's about Amelia Earhart, the famous American aviator
whose story and disappearance continues to capture the world's
imagination. It's the story of a doomed expedition to discover the North
West Passage, and the tale of Marco Polo, who remained at the court of
the Kublai Khan for an incredible 17 years.
The 50 Greatest Explorers in History brings to life the pioneers in
aviation flying thousands of miles with the most basic of maps in open
cockpits, exposed to the elements and the unrelenting smell of petrol
fumes. They travel by steamboat, on horseback, by rickshaw, motorbike,
train, swim with piranhas, embark into black nothingness in new
spacecraft, explore by Jeep, yachts, tea boats and elephants, disguise
themselves as men, take canoes and use innovative, advanced
technological scuba equipment.
Going where in many cases, no man or woman had ever gone before, some
women featured in this books were often denied respect, acknowledgment,
or recognition and they determined to break the 'men's club' mentality
of global exploration from which they were excluded.