The years 1800-1940 were the heyday of the independent explorer-free-spirited, mostly European adventurers who took incredible risks in pursuit of discovery and fame. Some lit out for the mysterious city of Timbuktu, others the source of the Nile River, or the elusive Northwest Passage over Canada, or the fabled lost cities of Latin America, or the North or South Poles-quests that obsessed nineteenth-century explorers and hardly matter today. They were a special breed of traveller: courageous and determined, gluttons for punishment, frequently self-financed, and often horrendously misinformed and ill-prepared. While a lucky few returned home in glory, far more starved or froze or succumbed to cannibalism or died of malaria or dysentery or at the hands of angry locals or wild beasts or were simply never heard from again. In equal parts eye-opening, shocking, and hilarious, Out There is a totally original account of their extraordinary exploits.
"An adventurer in his own right, Rowe catalogues a few excursions similar to those of his predecessors. That overland trail through the Sahara that took the Brit Hugh Clapperton to Lake Chad? Rowe traversed it. Charles Francis Hall's dogsled trip across Baffin Island in search of the Northwest Passage? Rowe mushed it. Ultimately, bona fide and armchair exploration enthusiasts alike will enjoy this balanced and zippy account of adventure and discovery."
David Venn
"It was a time when fame and fortune could be quickly won or lost, a time of heavy competition, scrambling to be first to the far reaches of almost anywhere, a time of jealousy and accusation, a time of lunacy and lies where life took second place to conquest; to having your name on a passage, a lost city, a mountain, or a river. These are compelling episodes of arrogance, ignorance, courage, and passion. There is treachery, tragedy and desperation, incredible endurance, self-sacrifice, and very rarely-triumph! Peter Rowe tells his stories with clarity and humour. See if you can put this book down."
Keith Ross Leckie, author of Coppermine
"If you're looking for a book that will have you snorting out your coffee, Out There is for you. Honestly, I don't know if I should be impressed or terrified by what these explorers accomplished."
Richard Wiese, president emeritus of The Explorers Club and host of Born to Explore
