Points Unknown: A Century of Great Exploration (Outside Books)

by David Roberts

Release Date: 13 November, 2000

Edition: Hardcover

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an interesting collection

This book is an interesting concept; a collection of excerpts from explorer's accounts of their journeys. The categories of adventure that fit within these 607 pages are almost as numerous as the 43 different excerpts. Mountain climbing seems to be the most prevelent form of exploring but there is also (Ant)Arctic treks, desert journeys, jungle adventures, white water canoeing, solo sea voyages, wilderness explorations, hunting, aviation, cave exploration, surviving a plain crash in the mountains, etc.. The editors confined their anthology to 20th Century accounts and quality of writing was an obvious consideration in their choices. They also did a good job of excerpting some very exciting moments in the chronicles of man versus nature. This is a good introduction of some great accounts of true adventure. Many a reader will want to go out and read some of the books these excerpts come from.

I felt this book was more a 4.5 than a 4 but I didn't want to give it too high of a rating. I felt the shortcoming was that there was a fair amount of technical jargon to weed through(especially in the area of mountain-climbimg). The editors did do a decent job of footnoting the more technical items but I would have preferred less mountain-climbing and more "in search of lost civilizations". However, that is MY preference and I could easily be in the minority. I was a little surprized at the quality of the hardbound edition. The paper used was the same as that used in magazines which gave it a somewhat "cheap" appearance. There is nothing "cheap", however, in its' content. Whether you read it cover to cover or savor each adventure in its' own time, you will find a lot of excitement and enjoyment in this book.

Good stories, but where are the maps?

This is a collection of adventure and survival writing by twentieth century authors, chosen by one of the editors of Outside magazine. Some of the selections are well known, such as those from Shackleton's Antarctic expedition and Odell's description of his search for Mallory and Irvine on Everest. Others, e.g. about spelunking and cave diving, will be new to most readers. Most of these pieces are well written. But not one of them is illustrated with either a map or a picture. It is astonishing that a book so heavily focused on geography would confine itself to words. Is it really that expensive to include maps?