Nicholas Jubber0.0 In 1177, Pope Alexander III - keen to secure a Christian ally from the other side of the Dar al-Islam whose reputed wealth would prove invaluable to the Crusades - wrote a letter to the elusive King of the Indies, otherwise known as Prester John. The person the Pope personally selected to deliver this letter into the hand of Prester John was a physician called Master Philip. He was never heard of again...
Eight hundred and twenty-four years later, armed with a copy of Pope Alexander's letter and with a redoubtable travelling companion from his university days, Nick Jubber set out with the express intention of somewhat belatedly completing Master Philip's mission. Over the next four months he would travel - by bus, boat and barouche, train, tractor and pick-up truck - from the Vatican and the churches of Venice, via the Crusader castles of Syria, to the Ethiopian highlands and a mysterious subterranean tomb of a medieval king which legend links to the mythical, mystical Prester John.
From insights into medieval history and mysticism, through observations on politics and religious tensions, to accounts of eccentric customs (ranging from the different names for the Middle Eastern water pipe to the unusual nature of Ethiopian time-keeping) and the day-to-day hurdles encountered while travelling through strange, sometimes, alien lands, THE PRESTER QUEST is an ebullient (and often very funny), erudite, enlightening and extremely readable account of an extraordinary journey.
Джоанна Кавенна0.0 An amazing journey through myth and history in search of a lost world To the ancients, Thule was a land beyond the edge of the maps, a northerly dreamland. It was a mystery for thousands of years, long thought to be an icy Eden, a
Рут Пэйдел0.0 Poet, writer, and descendant of Charles Darwin, Ruth Padel set out to visit a tropical jungle and wildlife sanctuary in India-- and her visit turned into a remarkable two-year journey through eleven countries in search of that most elusive and most beautiful animal: the tiger. Armed with her grandmother's opera glasses and Tunisian running shoes, she set off across Asia to ask the question: can the tiger be saved from extinction in the wild?
Tigers are an "umbrella species," they need everything in the forest to work in tandem: they eat deer, the deer need vegetation, the vegetation has to be pollinated by birds, mammals, rodents and butterflies. If you save the tiger, you save everything else. Today, the 5,000 tigers that still survive in the wild live only in Asia and are scattered throughout 14 countries. Padel says that while tigers will never become extinct--they are too popular for that--they may disappear from the wild. There are as many tigers in cages in the US as there are surviving tigers in the wild.
As she travels she meets the defenders of the wild--the heroic scientists, forest guards and conservationists at the frontline, fighting to save tigers and their forests from destruction in the places where poverty threatens to wipe out all wildlife. She also examines her fascination (both as a poet and as the great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin) with nature, wildness and survival and in the end, becomes a knowledgeable advocate for the tiger. The result is a beautiful blend of natural history, travel literature and memoir, and a searing, intimate portrait of an animal we have loved and feared almost to extinction.
Стиви Смит0.0 Picture a frustrated office worker of twenty-five. One rainy, miserable Monday he resolves to grab life with both hands and embark on an adventure: the first entirely human-powered journey around the world. Although he had never been on an expedition of any kind and had no money, Stevie and his friend Jason dreamed up a voyage that would take them from England to Hawaii by bicycle, inline skates and ocean-going pedal boat. For 111 days, they pedalled 7,500 kilometers across the Atlantic, and then crossed the United States to take on the challenge of the Pacific. Pedalling to Hawaii is hilarious, entertaining and refreshingly non-heroic, packed with thrills and spills as the intrepid and sometimes blundering duo make their way around the world. It is also a meditative account of a search for simplicity and integrity.
