Customer Reviews

Worlds to Explore: Classic Tales of Travel and Adventure from National Geographic

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

WORLDS TO EXPLORE: CLASSIC TALES OF TRAVEL & ADVENTURE FROM NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC provides a gathering of first-person travel and adventure stories drawn from the first half of the 20th century from the pages of National Geographic: while lacking the color photos of the magazines, it still comes with 60 black and white photos and some of the best 'you are there' stories you'll find under one cover. Dramatic, true stories of encounters around the world capture the wonder of experiences of naturalists, anthropologists and adventurers alike, presenting works by a range of travelers. The result reads with all the drama and flair of fiction, but it's all true fact - and impossible to put down.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book is a major disappointment. Nat'l Geographic and the author should be ashamed (Simon Winchester too - his tiny forward is pointless and only exists so they could put his name on the cover - what a sell out!) He had nothing to do with this book.
What they don't tell you is that these "excerpts" are highly edited and abridged. They reduce 30-50 pages to 3. Each excerpt has paragraphs that end in ellipses (...) and they jump around from the begining of the expedition to some noteworthy event and then to the end. It is like a readers digest version for people with severe ADD. It's only worth is as a list of potentially good stories that you could go try to find in old copies of Nat'l Geographic or other published form. Absolutely, not worth the money. Copy the table of contents and then go find the real stories. I had expected much more.
Here is pretty much how each story goes
"On Friday the 1st of May we set out for Mt. Everest...", "Terrible storm..." "Tents blew away...", "Made it to the top..." "Well time to get going I said..." "Safely back at basecamp at last..."
With about that much detail.
Dont buy it...

I would like to leave a few words about 'Worlds to Explore.' This is an excellent book for those who love to travel or at least would like to. It gives a great insight into not only the way isolated areas were a hundred years ago, but also how challenging it was to get there. Each short excerpt is taken directly from a long past article of National Geographic, and is perfect length for children of about eight years and older, giving a small taste of a place and it's people without going on about it so long as to be boring. An excellent starting point for further reading on cultures they may find interesting. Later, you may also want to buy a copy of the original issue to read the entire article; even copies from the early 1900s are easy to find on Ebay. I did just that with an article from 1925. My only complaint is that there are few pictures, but primitive cultures usually wore very little clothing, so maybe less pictures is a good thing for younger readers. I would like to see more publications from National Geographic in this style, but would have rathered even more to see this book broken down into several seperate books, one specifically for each continent, and with many more pictures and illustrations. That being said, even if they put out further editions in the same style, I will continue to buy them. If you are buying this as a gift for a child, I would also recommend a tent, a coleman lantern, and a subscription to National Geographic; I have a feeling they will be wanting all three in short order.

excellent classic tales of adventure. Short enough stories to keep younger ones enthused and long enough to provide entertainment for all ages.

This is a great book that mixes science and history. Great for busy people because it is all short excerpts so it can be read in pieces. Awesome array of stories that cover the globe!! I recommend it for everyone!

In our world of TV and internet, the ability to view and explore regions around the world seems like second nature. It is thus quite interesting to read these accounts from approximately 1890-1950 when travel was so much more difficult and time consuming. Vivid descriptions of far away lands and peoples certainly helped readers to better visualize the world in which they live.