Showing titles in Expeditions & Discoveries

In 1690, a dramatic account of piracy was published in Mexico City. The Misfortunes of Alonso Ramírez described the incredible adventures of a poor Spanish-American carpenter who was taken captive by British pirates near the Philippines and forced to work for them for two years. After circumnavigating the world, he was freed and managed to return to Mexico, where the Spanish viceroy commissioned the well-known Mexican scholar Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora to write down Ramírez's account as part of an imperial propaganda campaign against pirates.

From sailor to legend - the story of Captain James Cook, one of the greatest maritime explorers of all time. Rob Mundle introduces us to an unlikely sailor in a teenage Cook, who through the combination of hard-won skills as a seafarer, the talents of a self-taught navigator and surveyor, and an exceptional ability to lead and care for his men, climbed the ranks of the Royal Navy to achieve legendary status among all who sailed and mapped the world.

There is so much about Texas that few people know. Who knows about the lawless Horrell Brothers, who feuded for years with "Pink" Higgins. What is the oldest town in Texas? Learn about the Jaybird-Woodpecker War, or about the Texas Enchanted Rock. Then there was the fence-cutting war along with the usual Texas favorites, the Alamo, Cattleman Charles Goodnight, Texas' First Navy, and the San Elizario Salt War. If that not enough, you can learn more about Pirate Jean Lafitte.

Huracán is a suspenseful historical fiction of the infamous 1733 treasure fleet sunk off the Florida Keys during a major hurricane. Twenty-two galleons were either beached or sank with untold fortune in precious jewels, gems, gold and silver coins, and many souls. Huracán provides insight into life aboard a 1733 treasure galleon, along with her crew and passengers. This suspenseful novel incorporates many little-known facts in nautical history of the period along with a cast of lovable characters who will become your friends.

Cabeza de Vaca's mode of transportation, afoot on portions of two continents in the early decades of the 16th century, fits one dictionary definition of the word "pedestrian". By no means, however, should the ancillary meanings of "commonplace" or "prosaic" be applied to the man or his remarkable adventures. Between 1528 and 1536, he trekked an estimated 2480 to 2640 miles of North American terrain from the Texas coast near Galveston Island to San Miguel de Culiacán near the Pacific Coast of Mexico.

When interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau, and his Shoshone Indian wife, Sacagawea, joined the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, they headed into country largely unknown to them, as it was to Thomas Jefferson's hand-picked explorers. There is little doubt as to the importance of Sacagawea's presence on the journey. She has become a near-legendary figure for her role as interpreter, guide, and "token of peace". Toussaint, however, has been maligned in both fiction and nonfiction alike.

A visit to the Palace of Knossos in Crete in 2005 leads to the story of the fabled Ring of Minos, lost for 2,000 years but rediscovered in the 1930s, now in the local museum of Herakleon. The author joins the tour of the ancient Minoan palace and adds historical reference to this detailed study of a great and vanished culture.

From the undead halls of power in colonial Washington, D.C., to the bloody plains of India, to the mystery-shrouded deserts of Egypt, Texas Ranger Captain Samuel McCord is spoken of in whispers lest he take notice of the speakers. Follow his cursed footsteps from 1826 and the death bed of President John Adams to the blood-stained hills and ravines of 1857 India. And finally to 1895 Cairo and the far deserts wastes of Egypt.

Arkansas has long been a land rich in history and lore, and few of the events associated with The Natural State are more compelling and provocative than those associated with lost mines and buried treasures. Within this audiobook, award-winning author W.C. Jameson has captured and interpreted the most complete collection of these rich and varied stories of lost treasure.

The most seminal event of the last millennium might also be its most controversial. As schoolchildren have been taught for over 500 years, "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue." In October of that year, the Italian Christopher Columbus immortalized himself by landing in the New World and beginning the process of European settlement in the Americas for Spain, bringing the Age of Exploration to a new hemisphere with him.

Marco Polo (1254-1324) is an instantly recognizable name, and he is known for his travels, but it's safe to say that his influence and importance has been greatly overlooked in the nearly 700 years since he died. Born in Venice, Marco Polo was in a fortuitous position to participate in trade. He followed in the footsteps of his own family, setting off for Asia with his well-traveled father and uncle. They would not return to Venice for 24 years. When they came back, they had allegedly traveled about 15,000 miles.

Ferdinand Magellan was unquestionably one of the more remarkable figures of the Age of Exploration, and given his fateful expedition, he has the era's most unique legacy. Today he is remembered as the first man to circumnavigate the globe, despite the fact he died thousands of miles away from Spain in the Philippines. It is also commonly overlooked that among the famous and historic expeditions in the early 16th century, Magellan's was by far the most dangerous, unique, and adventurous.

Pocas empresas de la humanidad tan llamativas, arriesgadas y decisivas para el conocimiento del mundo. A través de un audio imperdible, repase junto a nosotros la historia de la conquista de las agrestes, peligrosas y gélidas del Ártico, y la carrera por ser el primer hombre en llegar a donde nadie jamás pudo antes: El polo Norte.

This short history audiobook features the story of Ernest Shackleton. He was among the last of a group of intrepid men from the Golden Age of Discovery in the Victorian era. He sought honor for England and himself in embarking on a dangerous journey to lead a team of men to cross the Antarctic continent.

The goal of this article is to change you into a well-equipped and fully stocked jack of all trades who is good with his hands and has specific skill sets that would be essential in survival situations. These skills include carpentry, steelworks, masonry, basic survival, hand to hand combat, practical shooting, and hunting skills among others. You might not have all the above mentioned skills sets. It will not be realistic to make you believe that you can be an expert in these skills in 14 days.

El relato del conocimiento del universo inabarcable, desde la mirada al cielo con el ojo desnudo hasta las sondas enviadas a años luz de la Tierra: una historia que tiene más de 3.600 años de antigüedad.La tarea de resumir más de tres milenios de investigaciones sobre el cielo parece imposible, más difícil aún parece presentarla de modo que pueda ser conocido por cualquier tipo de oyente, independientemente del conocimiento del mismo.

El hombre tiende siempre a inventar utopías y a perseguir quimeras, ya desde la antigüedad territorios como la Atlántida o las Islas Afortunadas, habían sido visitadas por viajeros que traían descripciones de animales increíbles y tesoros infinitos, otro tanto pasaba con regiones como la India de la que se contaban también numerosas leyendas fantásticas que fueron confirmadas, en algunos casos, por hombres que estuvieron allí, las tropas de Alejandro Magno por ejemplo.

La historia que se esconde detrás de una de las mejores novelas de aventuras de todos los tiempos. En 1875, Henry Rider Haggard escribe Las minas del rey Salomón, probablemente una de las mejores novelas de aventuras de todos los tiempos. Muchos intuyen pero pocos conocen el correlato histórico que se oculta detrás de esta novela: la lucha entre colonos ingleses y holandeses contra las tribus africanas por el control de los recursos naturales y de los territorios.

In 1826, when the story begins, the region was claimed by both Mexico and the United States. Neither country knew much about the lands crossed by such rivers as the Guadalupe, Brazos, Nueces, Trinity, and Rio Grande. Jean Louis Berlandier, a French naturalist, was part of a team sent out by the Mexican Boundary Commission to explore the area. His role was to collect specimens of flora and fauna and to record detailed observations of the landscapes and peoples through which the exploring party traveled.

These Chronicles could have been authored by Thomas Jefferson had he been so inclined to do so. He and Captain Meriwether Lewis spent long nights tracing its daily record of "Courses and Distances" onto brown paper on the floor of the East Wing of the White House. After Lewis's untimely death, Jefferson instead relegated the job to Captain William Clark. As a result, the narrative of the expedition has, until now, never been told as Captain Meriwether Lewis intended it to be.