Thomas Cussans

Within the pages of this remarkable book, you'll find true accounts of real-life adventures. The heores and heroines of some of these stories such as Robert Peary, Amelia Earhart, and Thor Heyerdahl, are household names. Others are less well known, but their stories are no less astonishing. You will marvel at their spirit and feel their sweat as you accompany them on their journeys and share their determination to challenge the boundaries of the known world.

This captivating full-color book recounts the adventures of explorers and adventurers from a range of countries and times who have tested the limits of human endurance. Their epic struggles against the elements, their amazing feats of daring in the face of terrible odds, and their record-breaking races against time are brought to life via edge-of-the-seat narrative and more than 225 photographs and illustrations.

What inspired Australia's Kay Cottee to be the first woman to sail solo around the world? She, along with the rest of the more than 60 audacious explorers featured in INCREDIBLE JOURNEYS, are part of a special breed of people who have pursued their dreams and ambitions to the ends of the Earth -- even when it meant risking their lives.

On land, on sea, and in the air, meet pioneers, adventurers, and survivors like...

Wiley Post, who in 1933 made the first solo flight around the world -- despite the loss of an eye -- to prove that long-distance aviation had a future.

Yuri Gagarin, who boosted Russian morale when in 1961 he became the first man to be rocketed into space. Little did he imagine that only eight years later American Neil Armstrong would set foot on the moon.

Roald Amundsen, whose ship was trapped in Arctic ice for two years -- giving him more than enough time to learn the cold-weather survival skills of the local Inuits, including the use of sleds and sled dogs. These skills later helped him to become the first man to reach the South Pole.

Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who in 1953 made the first successful ascent of Mt. Everest. Many have followed in their footsteps, including two climbers who reached the summit without supplemental oxygen in 1978. You'll read their story here as well.

Gladys Aylward, the modest English missionary who marched 100 children over the mountains to safety as the Japanese swarmed into China in 1942.

Tim Severin, who in 1977 built a sixth-century carrach, a primitive Irish boat made of wood and animal hides, and sailed across the Atlantic from Ireland to Newfoundland to prove that Saint Brendan the Abbot could have done so 1,500 years ago.

Dick Rutan and Jeans Yeager, who piloted first nonstop round-the-world flight in 1986. It is still the longest nonstop distance ever flown.

The stories are captivating, the characters larger than life. Going far beyond courage, the incredible journeys in this book are a testament to the indomitable nature of the human spirit.… (més)