What does it feel like to walk off the edge of a map? To emerge dazed, dying yet triumphant, from the Amazon? To tread upon the moon, stand on the roof of the world, or crawl through the blackness of a deep cave? Benedict Allen's anthology of human exploration presents the words of those who, through the centuries, have set off into the unknown and returned - sometimes half-dead - to bring this unknown back to their people. This volume brings together Vikings and cosmonauts, conquistadors and botanists. Such an unlikely array of travelling companions, placed side by side in their chosen terrain - be it desert, mountain or moon - should make for a rich compendium that helps us to understand and appreciate what kind of attributes make a true explorer.