The book has some interesting observation, for instance about the bantu-people who addresses the expedition by canoes to sell pigs, goats, eggs and once also a elephant’s tooth and a boy. Diseases were widespread and at most times more than half of the crew were sick.

Download the free PDF e-book here (632 pages/30 Mb):

 Narrative of an Expedition to Explore the River Zaire

This version of the book was published in 1901 and written by Russel Doubleday.

Download it here (407 pages/30MB):

 A year in a Yawl

Actually, Bingham was not an archeologist by training. But he was a seasoned traveler and well acquainted with South America, when he by equal measure chance and stubbornness stumbled upon the ruins of the famous Inca city in 1911.

He had, in fact, traveled the continent of South America extensively in the years before. His travels resulted in this book “Across South America – An Account of a Journey From Buenos Aires to Lima By Way of Potosi.”

It’s a really great book, well written and illustrated with many of the photos taken during the journey.

Download it here for free (486 pages / 21 MB):

Across South America by Hiram Bingham III

Download the free e-book about the expedition here (262 pages/9.2MB):

 The Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca

As a doctor, Bombard was concerned about the hundreds of deaths at sea every year related to sailors drinking ocean water. He developed the theory that humans can not just survive but live for years on seawater. This sounds very strange, but his big idea was to begin drinking seawater, while you are still hydrated – and in small quantities. It turns out that saltwater is only dangerous if you are dehydrated and suddenly drink large amounts of it. – The way shipwrecked sailors typically would do when they run out of fresh water. From the book:

For some time I had made a study of the resistance of the human organism to privations and had convinced myself that it was possible for an individual to survive beyond the limits normally assigned by physiological science. I had paid particular attention to the case histories of political deportees, prisoners, and undernourished populations. But, with my background as a doctor, for whom the teachings of science remain a dead letter unless they can find practical application, my theoretical studies only seemed to lead to the question: ‘What use can made of this knowledge?’

Bombard ate spoonfuls of plankton that he collected in a fine net and he also drank juice made from pressed fish he caught along the way. Sound disgusting, but the man survived and he might have discovered an important piece of knowledge for survival on the ocean.

Download the free PDF e-book here (223 pages/38MB):

 The Bombard Story 1953

When investigative reporter Nellie Bly approached her editor in 1889, he was not excited about the idea at all. But, in the end, she did travel around the world.

On her adventure, she met Jules Verne – whose story had inspired her – and many, many others. The result is this book.

The endeavor became an international story almost overnight, and Nellie, whose real name was Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, became a celebrity herself.

Her travel around the world in a record-setting 72 days is the most remembered of her feats today, but she was a pioneer in several other fields, too. For instance, Bly practically invented investigative journalism, when she lived undercover in a mental institution and uncovered horrible conditions to the public.

Around the World in Seventy-Two Days is not only a testament to the will of an extraordinary person, who became a role model for girls around the world. It is also very well written and entertaining indeed.

Download Around the World in Seventy Two Days as PDF for free here:

Nellie-bly-Around-the-World-in-Seventy-Two-Days-pdf

Download the Public Domain PDF e-book, Journey to Iceland here (376 pages/17MB):

 Journey to Iceland

“I counted a dozen horsemen with bifurcated guns thrown over their shoulders. Islam, Parpi, Lobsang and I took a stand on the crest of a small hill eight feet high, back of which the other men and the caravan had cover. We were eight against twelve, three guns against a dozen. But ours were the better weapons. We threw off our fur coats. The men from East Turkestan were in fearful anguish, and as for myself I found the situation far from reassuring. The Tanguts could readily secure reinforcements from the nearby valleys and annihilate us, or in any event fleece us of everything even to the bare skin of our bodies. On the surface I indicated no apprehension, but calmly lit my pipe.”

Download the free PDF e-book here (398 pages/11MB):

 A Conquest of Tibet

Captain Roald Amundsen did not fool around, but based his conquest of the South Pole on defining an elegant and simple plan – and sticking with it.

On December 14. 1911, the efforts were rewarded, when Amundsen and his four companions planted the Norwegian flag on the Pole, five weeks before the ill-fated British expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott.

In The South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian expedition in the Fram, 1910–12 (Volumes I and II) he tells the whole story. The book is written in a dry, understated humoristic tone and clinically cleansed from any kind of self-praise. This makes for a very satisfying read.

Originally, everyone – even Amundsens crew! – believed that they were going for the North Pole. But as the rival Americans Cook and Peary each claimed to have reached the North Pole in 1909, Amundsen set his sights on the South Pole instead. He kept his plans secret, though, and when his intentions were revealed, it caused international outrage. But Amundsen was on his way and did not care the slightest bit.

The Norwegian expedition used the same ship, The Fram, as Fridtjof Nansen in his attempt to reach the North Pole more than a decade earlier, and Nansen himself wrote the introduction to this extraordinary book:

“When the explorer comes home victorious, everyone goes out to cheer him. We are all proud of his achievement—proud on behalf of the nation and of humanity. We think it is a new feather in our cap, and one we have come by cheaply. How many of those who join in the cheering were there when the expedition was fitting out, when it was short of bare necessities, when support and assistance were most urgently wanted? Was there then any race to be first? At such a time the leader has usually found himself almost alone; too often he has had to confess that his greatest difficulties were those he had to overcome at home before he could set sail. So it was with Columbus, and so it has been with many since his time. So it was, too, with Roald Amundsen.”

Download the entire The South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian expedition in the Fram, 1910–12 Vol I + II (986 pages / 55 MB) here:

The South Pole Roald Amundsen

This book is one of the best stories about polar exploration, and it is beautifully illustrated with maps, drawings, and photos all the way through.

Internationally, Nansen is known as the father of modern polar exploration and for reaching a record Northern latitude during his “Fram”-expedition (1893-96). But while crossing Greenland for the first time, he tried out many of his techniques for real. At the same time, he completed the first major goal of Polar exploration.

His innovations and ideas were widely used by many later Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. During his life, Fridtjof Nansen took many roles upon himself; as explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. In 1922, Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Download the entire book (460 pages / 24,9 MB) here:

 The First Crossing of Greenland