Off the Map: Tales of Endurance and Exploration

by Fergus Fleming (Narrator)

On John Franklin's 1820 expedition to find the North-West Passage, Michel Teroahaute cannibalized two team members and was preparing a third when he was caught and killed. When Rene la Salle set off for the Mississippi Delta in 1684, he missed the target by five hundred miles, but on landing immediately built a prison for those who fell asleep on watch. Consummate storyteller Fergus Fleming brings together these and forty-three other gripping stories in Off the Map.

Spanning three ages of exploration, it is a uniquely accessible and supremely entertaining history of adventure and endeavor. Off the Map recounts episodes both classic and forgotten: the "classics" are brought to life in more vivid colors than ever before; the lesser-known stories offer accounts of feats that are no less heroic or extraordinary but have long lain hidden in the undergrowth of history. From the Renaissance golden age of Columbus, da Gama, and Magellan to the twentieth-century heroics of polar explorers such as Peary, Scott, and Amundsen, this is an unforgettable journey into the annals of adventure.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, Adventure, Survival, Biography, Short Stories

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book! This is a great introduction to the history of exploration and is very easy to read. I found it exciting, harrowing and enlightening.

[Sharron · Rating 3 out of 5]

While overall I enjoyed this book, I was disappointed by the fact that at least half of it addressed explorations of either the Arctic or the Antarctic. My interest in those two parts of the world is modest indeed and numerous accounts of people freezing to death, eating their sled dogs to ward off starvation, or they themselves being eaten by polar bears did nothing to change that. Quite the contrary. I wish the author had instead spent more time covering explorations of Africa, Asia, Australia, North America and South America.

[Jim Folger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a comprehensive, short story compendium of 45 different tales of endurance and exploration. It is organized chronologically, beginning with the European explores discovering parts of the Americas, and transitions to the Age of Inquiry in the 1700s and 1800s, and finally to the Age of Endeavor from mid-1800s through the early 1900s. It is a good recap of some amazing and harrowing adventures with something to appeal to anyone. Indeed, it would be impossible to duplicate these exploits in today's hugely populated and well-understood world.
While I read most of the stories in the 488 pages, I found myself skipping over some of them, since there were so many depicting experiences in the Arctic, and I had read about some others in full length detailed books.

[Juniper Shore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, breezily-written summaries of dozens of famous expeditions, mainly to the polar regions. This is basically an encyclopedia of fatal mistakes in unknown regions.

The writing is fun and the author makes a lot of humorous asides that humanize the figures, but I wouldn't read this book for its objective historical accuracy. Fleming's goal here is not so much to teach as to amuse, so he skips over the boring-but-important parts of the expeditions in order to focus on the action.

The book is also undermined by some glaring errors (Mt. Everest is not "six miles higher than Mount Blanc"; in fact, it isn't even six miles high).

Fun reading, but serious scholars will want to consult a more in-depth book or ten.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book detailing various explorations. So much of what we assumed is false and most explorations in many ways were failures. This was a very interesting book. Each chapter is short enough to read easily in one sitting. I wish history books used in class rooms were more like this. It would, I think, result in more students finding history an exciting rather than dull subject that revolves around dates and battles. This was much more interesting than anything I read in school!

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting true accounts of explorers in the world's history. A must read if you want to sound smart at parties and other social events.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

In brief distilled stories of dozens of different world class explorers and their expeditions, Fleming descibes these people in a very entertaining way. It was great armchair travel.Thanks Kyle

[Hugh Mcaloon]

wow.

[Sally Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A slow-paced thriller, filled with people & places I had never heard about.

[Josh B · Rating 3 out of 5]

detailed overview of every pre combustion engine explorer. Not bad. Long.

[Andy Gagnon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scurvy, starvation, frostbite, and huge egos humbled by nature. My kind of book, honestly. Really well written.