The Adventurer's Handbook is a light-hearted romp through the history of exploration, using the style of a how-to manual with tips, techniques and instructions on all kinds of adventures and expeditions. This book is packed full of useful information -- such as what to do if you are attacked by an anaconda (you wait until it has swallowed you up to your knees and then you reach up and cut its head off *), how to always have a fresher pair of underpants, how to deal with a charging lion, and how to find water in the desert. At its heart are the tales of derring-do, survival, and endurance such as Wilfred Thesiger's crossing of the Empty Quarter, an enormous, little-explored stretch of desert in Southern Arabia, the Kon-Tiki expedition, the search for the source of the Nile, Freya Stark's travels with the Bedouin in the 1940s, or Shackleton's antarctic expedition. Tales of mutiny, solitude, leadership, crisis management, and the spirit of competition make this a fascinating and entertaining read. Contents include: Getting Started: What makes an explorer?Raising funds, equipment, and preparation Getting Going: Leaving home, enduring heat, cold, altitude, wet and the sea, clothing, animals that can kill you, animals you can eat Getting Along: Leadership, teamwork, living together, crisis management, mutiny, solitude, meeting natives, tips for travellers Getting There: What makes an expedition succeed? Getting Back: Telling your story, proving what you've done, what next? And the million dollar question -- why? * Note: have knife handy.

Author Biography

Mick Conefrey is a filmmaker who has made award-winning documentaries on Arctic exploration and Himalayan mountaineering. He produced the BBC's anniversary film to commemorate the first ascent of Everest in 1953. This is his third book.