The 19th-century explorer Richard Burton was a blend of erudite scholar and daring adventurer. Fluent in 29 languages, he found it easy to pass himself off as a native, thereby gaining unique insight into societies otherwise closed to Western scrutiny. He followed service as an intelligence officer in India with a daring penetration of the sacred Islamic cities of Mecca and Medina disguised as a pilgrim. He was the first European to enter the forbidden African city of Harar, and discovered Lake Tanganyika in his search for the source of the Nile. His fascination with, and research into,...

The life story of Beryl Markham, pioneering aviatrix, flamboyant beauty, brilliant race-horse trainer and unscrupulous seducer. This fully authorised biography paints a vivid portrait of a tempestuous and controversial character.

When she disappeared in 1937 over a shark-infested sea, Amelia Earhart had lived up to her wish - internationally famous, a daring and pioneering aviator, and ambassador extraordinary for the United States. Mary Lovell's biography examines a legend to reveal the pressures and influences that drove Amelia.