From her small-town home in Ontario, it seemed as if Marco Polo, Magellan and their like had long ago mapped the whole earth. So she vowed to become a scientist and go to Mars. To pass the time before she could launch into outer space, Kate set off by bicycle down a short section of the fabled Silk Road with her childhood friend Mel Yule, then settled down to study at Oxford and MIT. Eventually the truth dawned on her: an explorer, in any day and age, is by definition the kind of person who refuses to live between the lines. And Harris had soared most fully out of bounds right here on Earth, travelling a bygone trading route on her bicycle. So she quit the laboratory and hit the Silk Road again with Mel, this time determined to bike it from the beginning to end. Like Rebecca Solnit and Pico Iyer before her, Kate Harris offers a travel narrative at once exuberant and meditative, wry and rapturous. Weaving adventure and deep reflection with the history of science and exploration, Lands of Lost Borders explores the nature of limits and the wildness of a world that, like the self and like the stars, can never be fully mapped.

    Five years later, Stephen Venables intensified the challenge by leading three unknown American climbers up the East Face - this time without oxygen. The question to most climbing experts wasn't whether they would summit, but whether they would live. They nearly didn't Everest: Alone at the Summit is Venables' rousing account of one of the greatest feats of twentieth century mountaineering, a triumph over doubt, the elements and the limits of human endurance that has never been repeated. "Climbers or not, all will be interested in this mountaineering thriller of a tiny band pulling off an incredible victory-an account so stirring it will be put down only to obtain a moment's breather." -- American Alpine Journal

    Paine wrote fiction, humor, verse and edited several magazines, but his outstanding work was a three-volume biography of Mark Twain, with whom he lived and traveled for four years. His travel books, all widely circulated, included The Car That Went Abroad; The Ship Dwellers; and this volume, The Tent Dwellers. In the Tent Dwellers, Paine describes the fishing/canoeing expedition on the waterways in southwest Nova Scotia, Canada, he made with his friend Eddie and their guides in 1908. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing. Due to the age and scarcity of the original we reproduced, some pages may be spotty, faded or difficult to read.

    Brother of William, also an accomplished rider, son of the late Robert and nephew of the late great Joey Dunlop, Michael can fairly claim that racing is in his blood. Now for the first time he talks in depth about his family story, how he got involved in the family business and how he manages to keep getting back on his bike despite all he knows of the deadly risks he encounters every time he crosses the start line.The death of his uncle during a competition in Estonia in 2000 was followed just eight years later by the death of his father at the North West 200. But despite these tragic losses Michael was undeterred and, two days after his father's death, he returned to the North West, and won. The next year Michael won his first TT, joining both his father and uncle in the record books.Now with thirteen TT wins to his name Michael is a phenomenal competitor, and in this sensational autobiography he reveals the highs and lows of racing, what it was like growing up part of a motorcycle dynasty and how that made him the incredible racing driver he is today.

    But for eleven-year-old Jason McAteer, growing up in the shadow of Liverpool FC, football became the dream. After signing with Bolton Wanderers at the age of twenty-one, the call to the international scene followed with the Republic of Ireland and, soon after, to his beloved Liverpool FC. The dream had become a reality. From his time with the Irish World Cup squad of 1994 to those tumultuous days in Saipan in 2002; on through his decision to leave Liverpool for Blackburn Rovers; his move to Sunderland, and the depression he fell into after finishing his professional career with Tranmere Rovers, Jason McAteer looks back with characteristic honesty and humour on his life - the jokes, the matches, and the personalities.This is the real Jason McAteer: a little bit bruised, a little bit battered. But still fighting.

    It didn't matter that Jeff Gordon hailed from California -- hardly a fountain of stockcar pedigree -- or that they said he was too small to race with the big boys on the dirt tracks and ovals of his youth. It didn't matter that Dale Earnhardt called this upstart "Wonderboy" -- no one raced the legendary Earnhardt harder, and no two drivers had more respect for each other. And it didn't matter that the racing world said Gordon was finished with the breakup of the crew on the #24 car and the departure of Ray Evernham, his crew chief, in 1999 -- he came back two seasons later to win a record-equaling fourth Winston Cup, this time with Robbie Loomis as crew chief. In the end, all that matters is that Jeff Gordon is the greatest living NASCAR champion, and it only remains to be seen just how many championships he can win.But what's it really like to climb into a stockcar every weekend and challenge for a championship? Offering a never-before-seen entry into the thrilling world of NASCAR racing, Jeff Gordon takes us into the cockpit of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet car; right into the garages where his cars are made; and inside the lives and efforts of his extraordinary team, the Rainbow Warriors. Just how does his car get built, tested, and driven, and how do these personalities mesh into a championship team? Along the way we find out what he thinks of life as both a NASCAR champion and a never-left-alone celebrity, where he came from and to whom he owes all his successes, and above all, what it takes to be a champion in one of the most dangerous and thrilling sportsof all."Jeff Gordon: Racing Back to the Front" -- My Memoir is a pit pass all its own, giving passionate NASCAR fans unique access into the life and career of one of the most storied champions in the sport.

    An unfortunately common situation...quickly develops into a wonderfully uncommon and heartfelt adventure." - An Erma Bombeck "Hot Tamale" http://humorwriters.org/2016/02/19/ho... - “Spot-on, highly entertaining, and absolutely hilarious” - Lynne Willard, Editor & U.S. expat - - "Jaw droppingly hilarious" Carol Penn-Romaine, award-winning writer - - A wealth of cultural information tucked between the chuckles - - Includes discussion questions for book clubs & classrooms - - As the zany protagonist comes to understand Mexico & appreciate Hispanic culture, readers do the same - - 20% of profits go to the ACLU - - "Holy Cow! This book is hilarious!" - Cynthia Norman, Cosmic Philosopher - “Learning about a new culture can be hilarious – as seen through this book!” – Diane Gilliard, Counselor - An Amazon Top-10 Bestseller in Travel/Mexico (7/17-9/17); Biography/Memoir, Crimes & Criminals, Solo Travel, Single Parenting, Teen & Young Adult Biographies (various dates) - SYNOPSIS A suburban housewife liberates herself from her peanut-butter-and-jelly life and flees to Mexico. While battling the cultural quirks that send less adventurous souls hightailing it back to the U.S., she struggles to learn Spanish, cope with foreign customs, raise her kids, and run a school. To supplement her meager income she smuggles, using her gift for gab and wily wit to outfox the government officials. But not all of her smuggling tricks and tactics go as planned. EMBEDDED MULTICULTURAL ISSUES - The women’s movement - The 1960s cultural revolution - Culture shock - Immigrant adjustment & adaptation - Immigrant parenting issues - Identity development in children of immigrants - Intergenerational value clashes in immigrant families - Diverse customs & mores - Racism - Sexism - Prejudice - Classism - Ageism - Cultural evolution - Expatriate re-integration - Individualist/Independent (e.g., North American) vs. Interdependent/Collectivist (e.g., Hispanic) orientation to: ° Time (past/present/future) ° Activity (being/becoming/doing) ° Social relations (hierarchical/collateral/egalitarian) ° Self-efficacy (fate/destiny vs. personal control)

    Wilson 's mesmerizing evocation of his Southern childhood in The Naturalist and Anthill, Alex Harris approached the scientist about collaborating on a book about Wilson 's native world of Mobile, Alabama. Perceiving that Mobile was a city small enough to be captured through a lens yet old enough to have experienced a full epic cycle of tragedy and rebirth, the photographer and the naturalist joined forces to capture the rhythms of this storied Alabama Gulf region through a swirling tango of lyrical words and breathtaking images. With Wilson tracing his family 's history from the Civil War through the Depression when mule-driven wagons still clogged the roads to Mobile 's racial and environmental struggles to its cultural triumphs today, and with Harris stunningly capturing the mood of a radically transformed city that has adapted to the twenty-first century, the book becomes a universal story, one that tells us where we all come from and why we are here.

    Complete with all the details to enhance your whitewater experience, Kayak is a great resource for learning new skills for intermediate and advanced kayakers and learning rescue basics. Plus, all of this is explained in easy-to-read and understand illustrations that are as funny as they are resourceful. This book will teach you basic river courtesy rules, intermediate and advanced technique, and most importantly, how to hold on to your life and limbs and keep your sanity as well.

    Not only was he hated by the whole world, even some of his own military commanders didn’t like him. Most leaders around the world rely on one, maybe two bodyguards to keep them safe. Even the President of the United States today has only one or two teams of security personnel; while there may be many men and women who take turns to protect their leader, the numbers are not as big as you would expect it to be. We will look at the origins of a number of bodies, such as the ‘Sturmabteilung’ or the SA, the Schutzstaffel (the SS) and the many other sub-sections of the SS such as the FBK, the LSSAH, etc., all of which were tasked with protecting Hitler. From the background, we will move on to individual accounts of men who served on these teams – they were Hitler’s personal bodyguards and some stayed with him until the very end. Humanity’s depraved nature came to fore with these men; despite having a master who was truly mad and ravenous for blood, they served him loyally. Was it because they were also as depraved as he was? Or were they afraid for their lives and did what they had to, to survive? We can only wonder... ===>>> Download this book today! <<<===

    Judy saved Frank’s life many times over and raised the morale of all the men in the camp.Extracted from the bestselling title The Dog That Saved My Life, this short story tells the tale of a dog like no other, a dog who was awarded an animals’ Victoria Cross for her bravery and devotion.

    We read every chapter and summarize it in one or two paragraphs so you can get the information contained in the book at a much faster rate. This is an InstaRead Summary of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. Below is a preview of the earlier sections of the summary: Prologue The year is 1995. Cheryl, the narrator and author of the story, explains that she was 26 years old when at the lowest point of her life she began her solo trek on the Pacific Crest Trail. She describes the trail as being 2,663 miles long and two feet wide, stretching from Mexico to Canada and including nine mountain ranges. She has embarked on her journey just 38 days before in an effort to find herself. As she stops to rest at the peak of a mountain, one of her hiking boots tumbles away down the mountain and into some trees far below. Realizing the other is of no use to her anymore, she tosses it out into the trees as well. She reflects on her situation and decides that though she is alone, battered and bruised, shoeless, and at least days from the next supply stop, she must walk on. Part One: The Ten Thousand Things Chapter One: The Ten Thousand Things Cheryl reflects on when her journey actually began and decides that it truly began a over four years ago, on the day that she had learned her forty-five year-old mother was going to die of advanced stage lung cancer. She recalls being at the Mayo clinic with her mother and stepfather on the day of the diagnosis and cursing the smaller town doctors that had given the same diagnosis in the weeks leading up to the visit to Mayo.  She had wanted them to be wrong. Angry at her absent older sister and younger brother, and refusing to believe that her extremely health-conscious, non-smoking mother could possibly have cancer, she argues with the doctor, then crumbles at the news that her mother has a year, at most, to live. She describes the deep love and devotion of her mother to her and her two siblings. Pregnant at nineteen, her mother had married her father only to find out within three short days that he was brutal and abusive. Her mother left him several times, but not permanently until she was twenty-eight years old. A single mother of three, her mother worked all the time, but never seemed to get ahead. She sugar-coated poverty for her children, making games out of their plight and dating an interesting slew of men. Her mother finally met Eddie, a man eight years her junior, and he married her and took on the roles of husband and father with ease. After a disabling accident and settlement, the couple bought forty acres of land an hour and half from Duluth, Minnesota...

    After a successful career in the private sector, Nasir El-Rufai rose to the top ranks of Nigeria's political hierarchy, serving first as the privatization czar at the Bureau for Public Enterprises and then as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja under former President Olesegun Obasanjo. In this tell-all memoir, El-Rufai reflects on a life in public service to Nigeria, the enormous challenges faced by the country, and what can be done while calling on a new generation of leaders to take the country back from the brink of destruction. The shocking revelations disclosed by El-Rufai about the formation of the current leadership and the actions of prominent statesmen make this memoir required reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of power politics in Africa's most populous nation.

    Centered on her quest to climb and ski the Seven Summits, Higher Love is a hero’s journey, rich with personal insights, life-threatening consequences, and a thrilling crescendo.Spanning seven continents in just two years, this is Kit’s personal account of the secret journey that would change her heart and her life forever. From braving Antarctica’s bone-chilling temperatures to trudging through an African rain forest, from corn snow on the continental slopes of Australia to blue ice on Everest, Kit leads you up each mountain and gives you a heart-racing ride back down.This candid, fast-paced story shows how inspiration, teamwork and honoring our true nature blazes the trail to every summit, on or off the mountain.

    Like Polaroids framing the years of a troubadour and family man afflicted with an excess of self-awareness, these are stories without any clear good guys or bad guys. Instead, in each of these vignettes, you will find dysfunctional humans trying to do their best and bouncing off each other in the process.