Author Description

Adventure and exploration provide some of the most dramatic and exciting stories in history. Most readers know about the "big names" in exploration. The exploits and daring enterprises of Columbus, Magellan, Da Gama, and other men fill our history books and have become synonymous with the discovery and civilization of far areas of the world. But what about the women whose heroic journeys have added to the world's geographic knowledge. Until now, they've had to remain in the shadows of their male counterparts. But author Rebecca Stefoff has collected their fascinating stories in this book, new in paperback, that investigates the lives of women who explored new lands and challenged women's place in the world. They loved travel, not only as a passage to a destination but as an experience with its own meaning and magic. You'll read about Ida Pfeiffer who was a 19th century women with "an insatiable desire to travel" who circled the world--twice, Fanny Bullock Workman, the world's foremost woman mountaineer, an early feminist and one of the most controversial figures in modern geography, and Alexandra David-Neel, the first western woman to enter Lhasa, the Forbidden City of Tibet. Their stories, plus those of five other intrepid women adventurers are beautifully illustrated with rare photographs, maps, and drawings. Also included is an 8-page color insert of explorer Mary Kingley's African discoveries and artifacts, Women of the World follows the facintating byways of wanderlust and anecdote to offer little known chapters in the history of exploration. It's the ideal escape for armchair travellers of all ages.