From Sir John Franklin's doomed 1845 search for the Northwest Passage to early twentieth-century sprints to the South Pole, polar expeditions produced an extravagant archive of documents that are as varied as they are engaging. As the polar ice sheets melt, fragments of this archive are newly emergent. In The News at the Ends of the Earth Hester Blum examines the rich, offbeat collection of printed ephemera created by polar explorers. Ranging from ship newspapers and messages left in bottles to menus and playbills, polar writing reveals the seamen wrestling with questions of time, space, community, and the environment. Whether chronicling weather patterns or satirically reporting on penguin mischief, this writing provided expedition members with a set of practices to help them survive the perpetual darkness and harshness of polar winters. The extreme climates these explorers experienced is continuous with climate change today. Polar exploration writing, Blum contends, offers strategies for confronting and reckoning with the extreme environment of the present.

This text describes Chile's recent experience in its regional and historical setting. It presents a view of the bitter conflicts of the 1970s and 80s and the struggle to restore democratic government in 1988-9. It also offers an assessment of the civilian governments of Aylwin and Frei.

A recently transplanted law enforcement officer finds life in rural New Mexico perplexing, difficult and sometimes hilarious. Her letters home chronicle her discoveries, victories and obstacles as she tries to navigate an entirely foreign culture.

W. S. Merwin is widely acknowledged as one of the finest living poets in English. Less well known is the power and range of his work in prose. For his first new prose collection in more than ten years, The Ends of the Earth, Merwin has gathered eight essays that show the breadth of his imagination and sympathy. A memoir of George Kirstein, publisher of "The Nation," stands alongside one of Sydney Parkinson, explorer, naturalist and artist on Captain James Cook's Endeavour. A wonderful portrait of the French explorer of Hawai'i, Jean–Francois Galaup de La Perouse is followed by a visit to the Neanderthal skeleton of Boffia Bonneval. There are treks through the Hawaiian forests, to the Holy Mountain of Athos, and with the butterflies in Mexico. For this magical and wondrous journey we have as our guide the excited and concise poet–naturalist, writing at the top of his form.

Pastor David Kwang-shin Kim has shown us that a single man bound by his faith can be mightier and more influential than a million individuals whose interests are only their own. The Holy Spirit led Missionary Kim Tae-won to receive the offering. Missionary Kim followed, “If you came to give an offering, then give it.” Then, the young couple gave him an envelope with a check for 80 million won ($100,000). If the People’s Security came to detain Lee while he was leading worship and holding rallies, the two drivers from the intelligence agency always vouched for him.

Fascinated by what lies beyond the boundaries of human experience, men and women have throughout history been irresistibly drawn to venture into the unknown. Lavishly illustrated, To the Ends of the Earth charts the astonishing feats of history's most intrepid explorers. From the early voyages of the Ancient Greek mariner Colaeus, who first discovered that beyond the Mediterranean lay a far greater ocean, to the compelling tale of the race for the Poles, this book encompasses the discovery and exploration of the great continents and oceans of the world. Whether motivated by the prospect of conquest, the spirit of scientific enquiry, nationalism, fanaticism, or just plain curiosity, the explorers in this book dared to seek out the most remote and inhospitable places on Earth and in so doing changed forever our perception of the planet. "I determined never to stop until I had come to the end and achieved my purpose." - David Livingstone (1813-1873), African explorer

"History and fiction merge seamlessly in this thrilling historical novel based on one of America's greatest unsolved mysteries. Lewis and Clark's last journey is a classic story of honor, vengeance, and redemption."--P. [4] of cover.

An innovatively packaged literary anthology published to commemorate the International Polar Year-and remind us what we're in danger of losing. The Arctic and Antarctic ice shelves have been an object of obsession for as long as we've known they existed. Countless explorers, such as Richard Byrd, Ernest Shackleton, and Robert Falcon Scott, have risked their lives to chart their frozen landscapes. Now, for the first time in human history, we are in legitimate danger of seeing polar ice dramatically shrink, break apart, or even disappear. The Ends of the Earth, a collection of the very best writing on the Arctic and Antarctic, will simultaneously commemorate four centuries of exploring and scientific study, and make the call for preservation. Stocked with first-person narratives, cultural histories, nature and science writing, and fiction, this book is a compendium of the greats of their fields: including legendary polar explorers and such writers as Jon Krakauer, Jack London, Diane Ackerman, Barry Lopez, and Ursula K. LeGuin. Edited by two contemporary authorities on exploring and the environment, and published to coincide with the International Polar Year, The Ends of the Earth is a memorable collection of terrific writing-and a lasting contribution to the debate over global warming and the future of the polar regions themselves.

The European explorers who dared to face the perils of the unknown have in recent times become shrouded in controversy. No longer esteemed as heroes, except in their homelands, these bold explorers are now seen as purveyors of disease, destruction and slavery whose only interests were finding gold, becoming famous, and spreading their religious beliefs. But, as the author of this work points out, these explorers broke down long-standing myths and broadened the world's horizons. Beginning with Prince Henry the Navigator's worldly vision of finding a direct sea route to India and concluding with Ferdinand Magellan's quest to be the first man to sail around the world, this work tells the collective story of the numerous explorers who sought to find a path to the exotic spices and other treasures of the Far East. Most of the explorers included in this work were of the same generation and several of them even sailed together. The book also examines the political, social and economic factors that ushered in the age of exploration and had such an impact upon the explorers.