Chessler Books
Rock Climbing - Mountaineering - Exploration
New - Used - Collectible - Signed
Chessler Books Accepts PAYPAL Chessler Books Accepts VISA Chessler Books Accepts MASTERCARD Chessler Books Accepts DISCOVER CARD Chessler Books Accepts AMERICAN EXPRESS
All Orders Shipped via United States Postal Service   Chessler Books Ships Via USPS
Author:
Title:
Keyword:
Item #:
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M Mc N O P Q
R S T U V W X Y Z
Item #: OP2011-936
EXPLORERS EXTRAORDINARY John Keay 1987 Softcover Fine
By Keay, John
Price: $1.99

List Price: $15.00
You Save $13.01 (87%)



Add to wish list


Detailed Product Description
Los Angeles, Tarcher, 1986. 195 pp, b/w illustrations. 

This book is about 7 explorers. However, it turns out that one of them, Louis de Rougemont, made up all of his exploits and was eventually exposed as a fraud. And another one, A. Henry Savage Landor, mixed fantasy and reality together to such an extent that it is difficult to know what happened and what didn't. So, about one third of the book concerns 'events' more suited for exposition in a novel.
 
Fortunately, Mr. Keay writes so well....with tongue-in-cheek humor and sympathy and psychological insight...that the other 5 chapters are well- worth your time. Here's what's on the menu (pun intended, since cannibals are present in this book...): John MacGregor, who was an evangelist/explorer who went everywhere by canoe. His canoe was a remarkable craft - it only displaced 3 inches of water.
 
MacGregor 'sailed' through the Suez Canal, before it was completed. He was also a very entertaining chap on the lecture circuit back home in England; Captain John Cochrane- who aimed to walk around the world. However, he was a very romantic fellow and subject to 'love at first sight.' Alas, whilst walking through Siberia he fell in love with a 14 year old Kamchatkan girl. He wound up marrying her, and his walking days were over.
 
Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt- a German botanist who set out to learn everything he could about the flora of Australia, and who disappeared without a trace into the Outback; Mary Kingsley- the 'proper English spinster' who fell in love with Africa. She learned to eat snake, and one time- while accepting some hospitality from cannibals- she noticed a strange smell. She traced the smell to a small bag hidden in the roof joists of her hut. The bag contained '...a human hand, three big toes, four eyes, two ears, and other portions of the human frame.'
 
Isabelle Eberhardt- a waif-like woman who dressed like a man and who fell in love with the Sahara....and who eventually found the love of her life in the Sahara. Because Landor and de Rougemont were 'phony' explorers, I didn't find this book to be good as Mr. Keay's 'Eccentric Travellers,' whose subjects were all 'the genuine article.' However, as mentioned above, Mr. Keay is an excellent writer, which makes both the fictional and the authentic exploits detailed in this book very interesting and exciting. 

Other Items You Might Like

  • Similar Items Available
  • Items From This Author
  • Items From This Category
TRAIL AND TIMBERLINE 1962 - 1998 As Available Not a Set $5 each
By: Colorado Mountain Club
Price $5.00 ~ Regular $10.00, You Save $5.00 (50%)
- Item # JR727A-966
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
EXPLORERS JOURNAL 1951-1993 As available (Not a set) $5 per issue
By: Explorers Club
Price $5.00
- Item # PL7737-958
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE EIGER OBSESSION: FACING THE MOUNTAIN THAT KILLED MY FATHER John Harlin 2007 1st ed Hardcover DJ Fine Multiple Copies Available [Not Signed]
By: Harlin, John III
Price $4.99 ~ Regular $26.00, You Save $21.01 (81%)
- Item # BK2188-86219
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ECCENTRIC TRAVELLERS: EXCURSIONS WITH SEVEN EXTRAORDINARY FIGURES FROM THE 18TH & 19TH CENTURIES John Keay 1983 1st US ed Hardcover DJ Fine
By: Keay, John
Price $25.00
- Item # OP990-927
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE CLIMBING ART MAGAZINE Individual Back Issues Numbers 1 to 31
By: Climbing Art Magazine, Pat Ament
Price $10.00
- Item # JR156-869
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
UNCLIMBED NEW ZEALAND: ALPINE TRAVEL IN THE CANTERBURY AND WESTLAND RANGES, SOUTHERN ALPS John Pascoe 1954 3rd ed Hardcover DJ SIGNED by John Pascoe
By: Pascoe, John
Price $45.00
- Item # OP463B-854
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ONE DAY AS A TIGER: ALEX MACINTYRE AND THE BIRTH OF LIGHT AND FAST ALPINISM John Porter 2014 Large Paperback
By: Porter, John
Price $19.95 ~ Regular $49.95, You Save $30.00 (60%)
- Item # BK4083B-841
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
NANDA DEVI: THE TRAGIC EXPEDITION John Roskelley 1987 1st ed Hardcover DJ Fine SIGNED by John Roskelley
By: Roskelley, John
Price $125.00
- Item # OP189E-844
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
EXPEDITION GUIDE Wally Keay 1996 3rd ed Softcover Fine
By: Keay, Wally
Price $4.99 ~ Regular $25.00, You Save $20.01 (80%)
- Item # BK775-110
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
EVEREST: SUMMIT OF ACHIEVEMENT Stephen Venables 2003 1st US ed Large Hardcover DJ Near Fine Multiple Copies Available (Not Signed)
By: Venables, Stephen
Price $19.99 ~ Regular $50.00, You Save $30.01 (60%)
- Item # BK1894C-8523p
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ECCENTRIC TRAVELLERS: EXCURSIONS WITH SEVEN EXTRAORDINARY FIGURES FROM THE 18TH & 19TH CENTURIES John Keay 1983 1st US ed Hardcover DJ Fine
By: Keay, John
Price $25.00
- Item # OP990-927
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE LOST EXPLORER: FINDING MALLORY ON MOUNT EVEREST Anker and Roberts 2001 Softcover Fine
By: Anker, Conrad & David Roberts., Anker, Conrad & David Roberts.
Price $4.99 ~ Regular $12.00, You Save $7.01 (58%)
- Item # BK45E-841
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
1969 ASCENT: SIERRA CLUB MOUNTAINEERING JOURNAL Very Good SIGNED by Roper, Steck, Robbins and Robinson 2 Copies Available
By: Sierra Club, Steve Roper and Allen Steck
Price $75.00 ~ Regular $150.00, You Save $75.00 (50%)
- Item # JR162B-8842
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
SOMETHING HAPPENED YESTERDAY Beryl Bainbridge 1998 1st ed Hardcover DJ New Multiple Copies Available
By: Bainbridge, Beryl
Price $2.99 ~ Regular $20.00, You Save $17.01 (85%)
- Item # PL77-9603
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
MEMOIRS OF A MOUNTAINEER: HELVELLYN TO HIMALAYA AND LHASA THE HOLY CITY F.S. Chapman 1945 Hardcover Fine
By: Chapman, F.S.
Price $9.99 ~ Regular $35.00, You Save $25.01 (71%)
- Item # OP941B-938
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ANNAPURNA SOUTH FACE 1971 2nd UK prtg Hardcover Fine SIGNED by Chris Bonington
By: Bonington, Chris
Price $29.99 ~ Regular $50.00, You Save $20.01 (40%)
- Item # OP452C-950
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE TREACHEROUS SNOWS [Kilimanjaro] Andrew C. Hartzell 1993 1st ed Hardcover DJ Near Fine 2 Copies Available
By: Hartzell, Andrew C.
Price $4.99 ~ Regular $15.95, You Save $10.96 (69%)
- Item # OP2166A-8562
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ROPE BOY Dennis Gray 1979 2nd UK ed Hardcover DJ Fine 2 copies available
By: Gray, Dennis
Price $9.99 ~ Regular $35.00, You Save $25.01 (71%)
- Item # OP531B-8522
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE MARCHING WIND [Amne Machin 6282m, 20,610'] Leonard Clark 1954 1st ed Hardcover DJ Very Good-Fine
By: Clark, Leonard
Price $9.99 ~ Regular $25.00, You Save $15.01 (60%)
- Item # OP944-966
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
REINHOLD MESSNER FREE SPIRIT: A CLIMBER'S LIFE Reinhold Messner 1991-98 Paperback [Not Signed]
By: Messner, Reinhold
Price $7.99 ~ Regular $19.95, You Save $11.96 (60%)
- Item # OP1025-8452
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
K2: ONE WOMAN'S QUEST FOR THE SUMMIT Heidi Howkins 2001 1st ed New Hardcover DJ Fine SIGNED H H by Heidi Howkins
By: Howkins, Heidi
Price $35.00
- Item # BK699-856
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart