The Adventurer's Handbook: From Surviving an Anaconda Attack to Finding Your Way Out of a Desert

By Mick Conefrey

Book Overview

What makes a good explorer? Adaptability, ambition, stamina, self-confidence, curiosity, optimism, authority-and fund-raising ability. Though few of us will ever have to face a charging elephant, or survive solely on penguin stew, when it comes to project management, crisis aversion, or any number of everyday problems, there is much we can learn from the larger-than-life tales of the world's most famous adventurers. Here, award-winning documentarian Mick Conefrey pulls practical advice from their original diaries and logs, like how to survive an anaconda attack (wait until it has swallowed your legs, then reach down and cut its head off), and how to keep morale up (according to Ernest Shackleton, "A good laugh doesn't require any additional weight"). In addition to the wonderful characters and stories, this book offers many lessons on how to set sail without a clear path home. Answers to some important questions, courtesy of The Adventurer's Handbook: * How many corpses are believed to be on Mt. Everest? Answer: 120 * How is polar bear meat best prepared? Answer: Raw and frozen. * What do you do if attacked by a charging lion? Answer: Stand very still and stare it down. * What should you wear when crossing a desert? Answer: Lots of layers-fabric absorbs sweat and prolongs its cooling action.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0230105572
• ISBN13: 9780230105577
• Release Date: October 2010
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Great Insight and a fun read

Want a fun and insight full read into what it takes to run and expedition? This is the book for you. Mick has written a great book that would be great for any armchair explorer or upcoming adventurer.

Even couch potatoes would like this book

I love to travel and backpack and am addicted to nature adventure tales. I found this book very informative and entertaining. It is full of fun facts and larger than life character sketches. And while there is a lot of information presented, the author manages to present it in a coherent, relevant and entertaining way. While he obstensibly writes about lessons learned from great (and not so great) adventurers, the lessons contained in this book can easily be used to inform us on how to successfully guide ourselves and others through life's everyday challenges great and small. LOVED IT!!

A Teacup in a Storm

The best thing about this book is that it reveals many interesting "I didn't know that..." bits of information on how the 19th and 20th century explorers dealt with the challenges of exploration. Overall, this book is both informative and entertaining and broken up into many different sections- which helps speed the reading along.