Further Reading

Polar Exploration: A Journey into the Ice

Polar Exploration: A Journey into the Ice

My recent talk at Shapero Rare Books gave me the opportunity to spend some time browsing catalogues and, most excitingly, shelves while I waited for guests to arrive.

Travel & Exploration

Polar Exploration: A Journey into the Ice

Lines in the Ice: Marginalia

My recent talk at Shapero Rare Books gave me the opportunity to spend some time browsing catalogues and, most excitingly, shelves while I waited for guests to arrive.

Imperial Mechanisms Shapero Rare Books

Imperial Mechanisms

"..The body of the people is taught to attribute the admission of it, entirely, to motives of humanity and benevolence towards other nations standing in need of the produce of...

Travel & Exploration

Imperial Mechanisms

The rapid acceleration of China's economy

"..The body of the people is taught to attribute the admission of it, entirely, to motives of humanity and benevolence towards other nations standing in need of the produce of...

Mutiny! The Court-Martial Documents of the Bounty Mutineers

Mutiny! The Court-Martial Documents of the Boun...

On 28 April 1789, disaffected crewmen took control of the HMS Bounty and cast the captain, Captain Bligh and 18 loyalists adrift in the Pacific Ocean.

Travel & Exploration

Mutiny! The Court-Martial Documents of the Boun...

A legendary Pacific rarity.

On 28 April 1789, disaffected crewmen took control of the HMS Bounty and cast the captain, Captain Bligh and 18 loyalists adrift in the Pacific Ocean.

Layard and the Antiquities of Assyria

Layard and the Antiquities of Assyria

Today we are all too aware of the appalling damage inflicted by ISIS on the ancient sites of Iraq and Syria – the mindless destruction of the wondrous remains of...

Travel & Exploration

Layard and the Antiquities of Assyria

Layard's discoveries into Assyrian culture

Today we are all too aware of the appalling damage inflicted by ISIS on the ancient sites of Iraq and Syria – the mindless destruction of the wondrous remains of...

Napoleon's Description of Egypt

Napoleon's Description of Egypt

The extraordinary success of a megalomaniac, an uncharted world, and a team of savant explorers.

Travel & Exploration

Napoleon's Description of Egypt

The mysteries of Egypt

The extraordinary success of a megalomaniac, an uncharted world, and a team of savant explorers.

Larger than Life: The Explorer Sir Richard Burton

Larger than Life: The Explorer Sir Richard Burton

Frequently described within his own lifetime as the most interesting figure of the nineteenth century, the explorer Sir Richard Burton was one of the greatest to come out of England.

Travel & Exploration

Larger than Life: The Explorer Sir Richard Burton

The most interesting figure of the 19th-century

Frequently described within his own lifetime as the most interesting figure of the nineteenth century, the explorer Sir Richard Burton was one of the greatest to come out of England.

Sir John Barrow: Unsung Champion of the Empire

Sir John Barrow: Unsung Champion of the Empire

Civil servant, naval secretary, developer, publicist, settler, author and all-round-adventurer John Barrow was understandably a man of many talents.  Here we take a look at how these skills drove forward...

Travel & Exploration

Sir John Barrow: Unsung Champion of the Empire

The man of many talents

Civil servant, naval secretary, developer, publicist, settler, author and all-round-adventurer John Barrow was understandably a man of many talents.  Here we take a look at how these skills drove forward...

Henry Morton Stanley: 'Bula Matari'

Henry Morton Stanley: 'Bula Matari'

From a workhouse in Wales to establishing one of the wealthiest countries in Africa, the story of Henry Stanley’s life (1841-1904) was as unlikely as anything in Victorian pulp fiction.

Travel & Exploration

Henry Morton Stanley: 'Bula Matari'

The unlikely tale

From a workhouse in Wales to establishing one of the wealthiest countries in Africa, the story of Henry Stanley’s life (1841-1904) was as unlikely as anything in Victorian pulp fiction.