What are the best books written about the most interesting explorers?

Asked by Patrick OShaughnessy
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Recommended by Alex Wagenheim Scott Snelling PM and 1 other
At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth. The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes throu
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Alex Wagenheim 7mos

Currently enjoying “River of the Gods” by @candice_millard about Sir Captain Richard Francis Burton- her other books are also fantastic, including “The River of Doubt”

Scott Snelling 7mos

Duke of Abruzzi did some pretty rad exploring. I also love the book “River of Doubt” about post-presidency Teddy Roosevelt exploring a previously undocumented Brazilian river that now bears his name. Unbelievable determination to survive.

Paul Bieber 7mos

This is a great read.

Recommended by Paul Bieber and Joe Kunkle
A Magnificent History of How the West Was Really Won - a Sweeping Tale of Shame and Glory In the fall of 1846 the venerable Navajo warrior Narbona, greatest of his people’s chieftains, looked down upon the small town of Santa Fe, the stronghold of the Mexican settlers he had been fighting his whole
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Paul Bieber 7mos

Another good one..

Recommended by Art and Spencer
The Worst Journey in the World recounts Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. Apsley Cherry-Garrard, the youngest member of Scott's team and one of three men to make and survive the notorious Winter Journey, draws on his firsthand experiences as well as the diaries of his com
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Spencer 7mos

The worst journey in the world: exceptional writing, insanely brutal experience

Recommended by Dave Nadig
A New York Times bestseller—the outrageous exploits of one of this century's greatest scientific minds and a legendary American original. Richard Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, thrived on outrageous adventures. Here he recounts in his inimitable voice his experience trading ideas on
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Recommended by BernardLeong.eth
The harrowing tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole, one of the greatest adventure stories of the modern age. In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance became locked in an island of ice. Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shac
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Recommended by Michael Murphy
Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. In North America, his name still graces four counties, thirteen towns, a river, parks, bays, lakes, and mountains. His restless life was packed with adventure and discovery, whether he was climbing
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Michael Murphy 7mos

Can’t believe no one has recommended The Invention of Nature! Alexander von Humboldt. Darwin’s and Jules Verne’s inspiration, worldwide celebrity, audiences with Jefferson, Madison and Napoleon. Literally invented the idea of nature and interconnected ecosystems. Brilliant.

Recommended by Sam McRoberts
A grand mystery reaching back centuries. A sensational disappearance that made headlines around the world. A quest for truth that leads to death, madness or disappearance for those who seek to solve it. The Lost City of Z is a blockbuster adventure narrative about what lies beneath the impenetrable
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Recommended by Doug Kechijian
'This was much more than a bunch of guys out on an exploring and collecting expedition. This was a military expedition into hostile territory'. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a pioneering voyage across the Great Plains and into t
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This new biography, part of Longman's World Biography series, of the Chinese explorer Zheng He sheds new light on one of the most important "what if" questions of early modern history: why a technically advanced China did not follow the same path of development as the major European powers. Written
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Claire Cormier Thielke 7mos

Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty. He got around. Edward Dreyer's book is a good dive.

Recommended by Dave Nadig
“Ram Dass lived a full life and then some. His final statement is thorough and, yes, enlightening.” —Kirkus Reviews Perhaps no other teacher has sparked the fires of as many spiritual seekers in the West as Ram Dass. If you’ve ever embraced the phrase “be here now,” practiced meditation or yoga, tr
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Recommended by Alam Ahmad
This is a book about one of the first recorded pilgrims who climbed Mount Sinai; it's about Amelia Earhart, the famous American aviator whose story and disappearance continues to capture the world's imagination. It's the story of a doomed expedition to discover the North West Passage, and the tale o
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Recommended by Joe Kunkle
The Instant New York Times Besteller National Bestseller "[The] authors’ finest work to date." —Wall Street Journal The explosive true saga of the legendary figure Daniel Boone and the bloody struggle for America's frontier by two bestselling authors at the height of their writing power--Bob Drur
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