Books in The Greatest Adventures in the World series

In this diary, engineer and explorer of Egyptian antiquities Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778-1823), recounts a life story as entertaining as the best fiction. Beginning with his childhood in Padua where he was one of 13 children, moving on to his early adulthood in England where he was a member of a circus troupe, and, finally, his later years spent searching for antiquities in Egypt in an era when the desert sands concealed boundless treasures, Belzoni's diary chronicles an extraordinary life. His discoveries, including the temple at Abu Simbel, the pyramid of Khafre, and the tomb of Seti I, made a fundamental contribution to our knowledge of ancient Egypt, yet Belzoni has remained obscure-until now. His journal gives readers fresh insight into an exciting time in the history of archaeology and into the career of one of the pioneers of Egyptology, later praised by Howard Carter as "one of the most remarkable men in the entire history of Archaeology."

Part historical essay, part scientific article, and part enthralling diary-Roald Amundsen's (1872-1928) book presents intriguing documentation about how his expedition reached the South Pole on December 14, 1911, just one month ahead of his rival, Robert Scott. Amundsen organized his gripping account using what is referred to in the film industry as the zooming technique. It starts in the past, examining the history of Antarctic exploration in different eras, and then moves ahead to describe how his own expedition was created, its organization, the slow stages involved in preparing for departure and, finally, the heart-stopping excitement of the race to the South Pole. Supplementing the vivid first-person text are black-and-white archival photographs illustrating the actual expedition, and color photographs depicting the landscape of Antarctica.