In 1888, George Broke with Harold Topham and William Williams, made the first exploration of the Alaskan Mt. St. Elias range, including the crossing of the great Malaspina Glacier and an attempt on the S.E. face of Mt. St. Elias itself. The journey is described in the interesting work With Sack and Stock in Alaska, vividly detailing the country visited and the characters met along the way. - Summary by Fritz

This recording of the 1931 book about Yosemite National Park comprises the narrative text about the Park from its discovery by non-natives in the Indian War of 1851 to the mid-twentieth century. The printed book contains dozens of early photographs and drawings, as well as an extensive timeline and bibliography, which are not here recorded. The author was an ecologist, historian, and administrator. He was an officer of the U.S. National Park Service for thirty four years, serving as the Chief Naturalist of Yosemite from 1923-1929 and later as Park Superintendent. - Summary by David Wales

The Roosevelt–Rondon Scientific Expedition was the famous survey that took place in 1913-14 to follow the path of the Rio da Dúvida in the Amazon basin. The expedition was jointly led by Theodore Roosevelt, the former President of the United States, and Colonel Cândido Rondon, the Brazilian military engineer known for his explorations of the Western Amazon Basin and his lifelong support of Brazilian indigenous populations. Almost from the start, the expedition was fraught with problems: diseases...

Going abroad for a holiday or business is always exciting, but we can only imagine how exciting it would have been in 1900 to board a steamer from the United States and take a tour through Europe. Luckily Robert Luce gives advice in this book about how to get around, where to stay, what to see, and generally how to make the journey a success. - Summary by Carolin

Early twentieth century travel book about Alaska with stories of major cities, Indian tribes, customs and geography of what would become our 49th state. - Summary by BettyB.

A travel journal to the Scilly Islands written in the Nineteenth Century. It records Scillonian legends and folklore. There are brief diversions into period racism. -Summary by Timothy Ferguson

From its man-made origins as a consequence of medieval peat excavations, the Broads of Norfolk and Suffolk have evolved into a natural ecosystem, providing habitat for a diverse range of flora and fauna , as well as a means of livelihood for the inhabitants of this region. In the company of the book’s author, a self-taught lifelong naturalist and undisputed expert of the Broads , we discover how the life of the Broads unfolds over the course of a single year. So, why not listen in, and join us...

These simple stories of two of England’s greatest cathedrals were originally written for youth but adults will also enjoy them. St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, and Canterbury Cathedral in Kent County are central to the story of England, especially church history though not exclusively so. Here are stories of great spiritual leaders, saints, sinners, politicians, kings, soldiers, murders, pilgrimages, common folks, peoples’ spiritualities, spiritual life, civil life. - Summary by david wales

For more than three hundred years an intense desire has been felt by explorers to discover and reveal to the world the secrets of the immediate regions of the North Pole. Nor has this desire been confined to mere adventurers. This volume sketches the latest American efforts , second to no others in heroism and success, and abounding in instructive and intensely interesting adventures both grave and gay. - Summary from the preface

This book tells the story of exploration in America in the words of the explorers themselves. It consists of extracts from narratives of the early discoverers and explorers of the American continent from the Northmen in 10th century to 17th century Massachusets Bay Colony. - Summary by Kikisaulite

A collection of short, non-fiction travel memoirs or guides written in, or translated into, English. Material covered might be a museum, a village or town, or a particular voyage or train journey, or other travelogues of potential interest to listeners. - Summary by KevinS

In the spring of 1877, a young Oscar Wilde visited Greece with his classics professor, J. P. Mahaffy, and two friends. One of these friends, George Macmillan, wrote a brief account of the party's ride across the Peloponnese. The account, without mentioning Wilde by name, records the travelers' first impressions of the newly excavated sites of ancient Olympia, Argos, and Mycenae. It also includes colorful descriptions of the Arcadian mountains and flora, and of Greek customs and dress. This recording was made in the spring of 2019 at the sites visited by Wilde and Macmillan...

An introduction to world geography for young and old alike. Topics such as China, Japan, the American Indian, Europe and the oceans on a beginning level. Summary by BettyB

John Woodhouse Audubon , son of the famous painter John James Audubon and an artist in his own right, joined Col. Henry Webb's California Company expedition in 1849. From New Orleans the expedition sailed to the Rio Grande; it headed west overland through northern Mexico and through Arizona to San Diego, California. Cholera and outlaws decimated the group. Many of them turned back, including the leader. Audubon assumed command of those remaining and they pushed on to California, although he was forced to abandon his paints and canvases in the desert…...

This is a story of magnificent failures. The men who equipped the expeditions of which I shall tell you the story died in the poorhouse. The men who took part in these voyages sacrificed their lives as cheerfully as they lighted a new pipe or opened a fresh bottle. Some of them were drowned, and some of them died of thirst. A few were frozen to death, and many were killed by the heat of the scorching sun. But what of it? It was all in the day's work. These excellent fellows took whatever came, be it good or bad, or indifferent, with perfect grace, and kept on smiling...

In a nineteenth century Sicilian fishing village, the Malavoglia family gambles everything on being able to profit from a cargo of lupin nuts. The cargo is lost at sea and a succession of misfortunes and tragedies assails the family. A masterpiece of social commentary hailed within Italy but neglected by the wider world, The House by the Medlar Tree ranks alongside the works of Zola, Dickens or Balzac among the great books of European literature. The book is the inspiration behind the 1948 film 'La Terra Trema' , one of the earliest works of the great Italian director Luchino Visconti. - Summary by Tom Denholm

A travelogue through the countries of France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden for young and old alike. Interesting big cities and lesser known areas that provide a glimpse of Europe nearly 100 years ago. Summary by BettyB

The National Geographic Magazine, an illustrated monthly, Vol VIII, the December Number. It includes the following articles: A Special Announcement, by F. H. Newell, Secretary The Washington Aqueduct and Cabin John Bridge, by D. D. Gaillard Gardiner Greene Hubbard, by John Hyde Pollution of the Potomac River, by F. H. Newell The Delta of the Mississippi River, by E. L. Corthell The Annexation Fever, by Henry Gannett Sir John Evans and Prof. W. J. McGee, by John Hyde Some Recent Geographic Events, by John Hyde Geographic Literature, by Henry Gannett Geographic Notes

Martin Overshaw and Corinna Hastings are leading dull and unproductive lives in Paris, having fled humdrum England. They fall in with Fortinbras, who calls himself a Marchand de Bonheur. He predicts a bright future for them and suggests they set out on a journey through France together. The book follows their adventure which turns out to be far more complicated than it might at first seem. They meet a variety of characters on the way and the looming threat of the First World War overshadows the second half of the book, which nonetheless ends happily for all concerned.

This collection of Mark Twain travel letters was compiled by Barbara Schmidt for her website, TwainQuotes.com. According to his biographer, Albert Bigelow Paine, when Twain took his family to Europe in June of 1891, he left with the knowledge that the McClure Syndicate and W. M. Laffan of the New York Sun would pay him one thousand dollars each for six travel letters. Twain’s letters eventually appeared in numerous papers including the Chicago Sunday Tribune, Atlanta Constitution, Boston Globe in addition to the New York Sun...

In this Journal, Joseph Banks records almost daily observations of the journey of the ship the Endeavour on the first of James Cook’s voyages to the Pacific during the years 1768-1771. There are also more detailed accounts of the events, people, flora, fauna and geology of the places where they landed. They landed at Brazil, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, Batavia, Cape Town and St. Helena. Joseph Banks was one of the naturalists on the Endeavour, appointed by the Royal Society. The joint Royal Society, Royal Navy journey of the Endeavour was overtly a scientific expedition with the stated purpose of observing the transit of Venus from Tahiti...

In an age when women were expected to remain at home, entertain, and rear children, Rosita Forbes elected "to boldly go where no one had gone before..." Like her older contemporary, Gertrude Bell , Forbes held a profound love of the vast desert and the people who lived there. That love shines out in this engaging travelogue of her November 1920 - February 1921 adventure. The expedition took her deep into the Libyan desert to seek a remote location, revered by local peoples, that was protected from outside intrusion...

Author's account of travels through Algeria, Tunisia, Tripoli and the Sahara Desert with stories about the people, climate, industry and culture. Summary by BettyB.

A collection of some of the most significant literary work on the English Lake District prior to Thomas West’s A guide to the Lakes . The poet Thomas Gray takes the reader from Brough south to Kendal on his return from a tour in Scotland. An agricultural reformer, Arthur Young, also returning from Scotland, begins his journey in the northern parts of Cumberland with dry descriptions of local farming, but on arriving in Keswick, his account turns to the picturesque scenery around Derwent Water, Ullswater and Windermere...

Kellogg Durland spent a year in Russia as a journalist in 1906, during a seminal period in Russian history. This is a highly interesting read, knowing as we do what fell out for Russia in the next decade. The Russian Revolution did not appear from nowhere in 1917. Durland's account shows the rumblings that existed before the explosion.

A loving recollection of the writer’s experiences, over many decades, of Italian places, people and art. - Summary by barbara2

In the late eighteenth century, English writers discovered the landscape, not only in the paintings of Claude Lorrain, Nicolas Poussin and Salvator Rosa, but also as a place to be visited and viewed as if it were a picture. No part of England was more discovered in this period than the Lake District, which was transformed over the course of the next century from a remote region of farmland and inaccessible hills into a wild and romantic landscape of picturesque lake and mountain, described in works such as Thomas West’s A guide to the Lakes ...

This is the tenth volume of the 15-volume series of The World’s Story: a history of the World in story, song and art, edited by Eva March Tappan. Each book is a compilation of selections from prose literature, poetry and pictures and offers a comprehensive presentation of the world's history, art and culture, from the early times till the beginning of the 20th century. Part X covers the second part of the history of England, from the Stuart Kings till the early 1900s. Also included are excerpts from the history of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as well as Irish and Welsh legends and Scottish ballads...

Personal narratives of climbing Mount Everest in 1922-1923. The expeditions did not reach the summit. The northern approach to the mountain was discovered by George Mallory and Guy Bullock on the initial 1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition. It was an exploratory expedition not equipped for a serious attempt to climb the mountain. With Mallory leading they climbed the North Col to an altitude of 7,005 metres . From there, Mallory espied a route to the top, but the party was unprepared for the great task of climbing any further and descended...

Travel stories of the land "Down Under" from 100 years ago. Native life and scenery and commerce of islands such as Tonga and Fiji as well as the bustling city of Sydney. Summary by BettyB

"THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION of 1875 left England on 29th May, crossed the Atlantic to Davis Straits in a succession of storms, and entered the Arctic regions on 4th July. It sailed with orders to 'attain the highest northern latitude, and, if possible, reach the Pole.'" This is the story of the crew of the HMS Alert, on its voyage of exploration up the Baffin Sea and toward northern Greenland. volunteers wish to thank the volunteers of Distributed Proofreaders for their work over the last 20 years to convert public domain books into e-books. "Shores of the Polar Sea" was DP's 35,000th title. Congratulations and Happy 20th Anniversary Distributed Proofreaders! .

The National Geographic Magazine, an illustrated monthly, Vol IX, the January Number. It includes the following articles: Three Weeks in Hubbard Bay, West Greenland, by Robert Stein. The Samoan Cocoanut, by A. W. Greely The Modern Mississippi Problem, by W J McGee Our Foreign Trade, by Henry Gannett The Presidency of the National Geographic Society Geographic Literature, by H. T Newcomb Miscellanea