Part of the National Geographic Destinations series, this rich adventure tapestry dives fearlessly into the heart of diverse and mysterious regions: China, Mali, Iceland, Venezuela, and Australia. The personal narratives sear dazzling, razor-sharp images across the imagination, as the eye luxuriates in the 100 full-color photographs.
We first venture to the Kingdom of Muli. Author Patrick R. Booz follows the trail of Kublai Khan to this remote, monastic region tucked away in the mountain ranges of the Tibet-China border. Then, swept down the Niger River on a 240-mile West African adventure, Cynthia Russ Ramsay unearths the secrets of the fabled Timbuktu. Thomas O'Neill chronicles in fantastic detail a land literally bubbling with mystique and danger as he explores the fire-and-ice Icelandic interior: its volcanic fissures, mammoth ice flows, lush waterfalls, and hardy, survivalist inhabitants. We are then transported by Tom Melham to the "lost world of broken rockscapes, unique plants, Indian legends, and tales of living dinosaurs"--the Venezuelan tepuis, a stark, otherworldly place never fully explored by humans. Facing uncharted waters, sea crocs, and Mother Nature's high jinks, Christine Eckstrom and crew tackle the wild coastal seas and backcountry of the Kimberly, a vast, haphazardly mapped, lonely area in northwestern Australia inhabited by Aborigine tribes and a bare dusting of stalwart cattle ranches.
Although small maps of each region are included, those expecting the detailed, foldout ones of National Geographic Magazine fame may be disappointed. The focus here is on extended narrative with deep historical and human-interest information, with page upon page of the Society's stupendous photographic work that truly brings each journey to life. --Brina Bolanz
