In the Footsteps of Adam: A Memoir [Hardcover]

Thor Heyerdahl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2002

Thor Heyerdahl is one of the greatest explorers of our day. At the age of 84 he has chosen to take a journey through his memories. This is not a chronological autobiography but rather an epic exploration of the world and the amazing events that Heyerdahl has pioneered, participated in and observed. IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ADAM is an account of life where personal experiences of a dramatic and emotional nature - secret missions during the war and near-fatal accidents - are woven together with his views on religious fatih politics and ecology. It is a book that focuses on the author's own remarkable life, and also brings us back to the dawn of civilization and out into the future. Thor Heyerdahl has spent a long lifetime wandering in the footsteps of mankind. He invites the reader to participate in that journey by sharing generously the details of his private and public life, his accumulated wisdom, and his friendships with a wide range of influential world leaders such as Fidel Castro and Mikhail Gorbachev.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Completely beguiling- unconventional...utterly charming. It conveys faithfully Heyerdahl's continuing sense of wonder, his appreciation of so-called primitive cultures, his suspicion of Western civilisation and his conviction that people should work with nature rather than against it... captivating.' MAIL ON SUNDAY '[A] compendium of adventure, history and philosophy by a man who knows arguably as much about the planet as anyone alive' SCOTSMAN 'Thor Heyerdahl had the mystique of a Norse god. Long before every two-bit adventurer, with one eye on a television film and the other on a book contract, headed for ever remoter areas of the globe, Heyerdahl captivated us with his daring blend of science and history in action. In Kon-Tiki, a craft made out of balsa, he sailed across the Pacific to Polynesia to prove that there could have been early contact between the two civilisations. Similarly, 22 years later, in 1969, he sailed the Atlantic in a papyrus boat to show that the Ancient Egyptians could have made it to America. It is, therefore, somewhat disconcerting to find Heyerdahl alternately musing whimsically about God, the Universe and everything like some latter-day Laurens Van Der Post and heavy-handedly underlining his green credentials with references to how he was worried about the ozone level at the year dot. Get on with the story, you scream to yourself. Fortunately, once you are about 40 pages in, the gravitas is gradually dropped but the narrative only really kicks into life with Heyerdahl's descriptions of active service in Britain and Scandinavia during the Second World War. As might be expected, the highlights are the two major expeditions, though Heyerdahl seems more interested in having a go at the detractors who have rubbished his findings, than reliving the journeys themselves. Heyerdahl is now in his 80s and you can't help feeling that at such an age memory competes with the desire to rewrite history to create a fitting memorial to one's own life. So the latter pages of the book are taken up with his role on various governmental and UN quangos, while his home life is reduced to rose-tinted caricature. His three marriages slide easily into one another with little sense of recrimination or regret, while the premature death of his daughter is almost entirely airbrushed away. In the Footsteps of Adam is by no means a bad book, and there is much of interest, but while we get to hear a lot about the mission, the man himself is only partly revealed. However, perhaps it's the prerogative of Nordic deities to remain a mystery.' - John Crace, AMAZON.CO.UK REVIEW --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Thor Heyerdahl achieved lasting fame in 1947 sailing the primitive balsa-wood raft 'Kon-Tiki' from Peru to Polynesia. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Warwick Publishing (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189462212X
• ISBN-13: 978-1894622127
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,498,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read, March 10, 2004

By 

zebrafish_us3 "zebrafish_us3" (Palo Alto, ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Footsteps of Adam: A Memoir (Hardcover)

This is a greatly written book. For all Thor's sense of humor and eye for the paradox often shines through. We hear a lot about his obstacles getting his travel adventures accepted in scientific circles as real research and also get a side of Thor indicating that he is a very determined man. We hear about his romantic life and philosophy about he important things in life. A great book that will teach you not only about geography and archeology but will make you laugh and think deeper about life.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real credit to the late Mr Heyerdahl [1918-2005], who is a real credit to Western Civilization!, July 14, 2006

By 

Ricahrd A. Salzer (Chesapeake, Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Footsteps of Adam: A Memoir (Hardcover)

The Norwegian born Mr Heyerdahl was an

athlete, explorer and writer par excellance,

who wroter twenty very good to great books

and this is his best. The greatest explorer

in our cultures history, I highly also rec-

ommend the books, 'On the Seventh Day' and

'Kon-Tiki'. Actually all his book s are worth

getting, provided the price is right here on

amazon.com or alibris.com.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diary of an adventurous man., December 21, 2003

By 

Abe Vigoda "part-time inventor" (Vermont, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Footsteps of Adam: A Memoir (Hardcover)

To use Thor's own words...
"There is nothing for modern man to return to. Our wonderful time in the wilderness had given us a taste of what man had abandoned and what mankind was still trying to get even further away from. Progress today can be defined as man's ability to complicate simplicity. Nothing in all the procedure that modern man , helped by all his modern middlemen, goes through before he earns money to buy a fish or a potato will ever be as simple as pulling it out of the water or soil. Without the farmer and the fisherman, modern society would collapse., with all its shops and pipes and wires. The farmers and the fishermen represent the nobility of modern society; they share their crumbs with the rest of us, who run about with papers and screwdrivers attempting to build a better world without a bluprint."

All this author's books are GREAT reads! If you are a city dweller you will especially appreciate his adventures as he asks the question- "Were we meant to live in jungles made of plants or concrete?