HEMPLEMAN-ADAMS, DAVID WITH UHLIG, ROBERT

Walking on Thin Ice - in Pursuit of the North Pole

London, Orion / Daily Telegraph. 1998, First Edition. (ISBN: 0752817973). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A Fine unmarked copy with near fine complete dustjacket which is not price clipped. In March 1998 the author set off on a 600 mile journey which would take him into the record books as one of the most successful all rounf adventurers. Facing wind-chill down to minus 90 centigrade, he man hauled his sledge to the North Pole across the constantly shifting ice of the frozen Arctic Ocean. This completed the explorer's Grand Slam, a challenge which saw him conquer the North and South Magnetic Poles, become the first person to walk solo and unsupported to the South Pole, scale the highest mountain in each of the seven continents, including Everest. Illustrated with colour photographs. B2D. Fine/Near Fine.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 005344

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: Explorers, Grand Slam, North Pole, South Pole, Everest, Mountaineers 0752817973

FIENNES, RANULPH

Mind over Matter - the Epic Crossing of the Antarctic Continent

London, Sinclair Stevenson. 1993. (ISBN: 0856193756). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A near Fine unmarked copy with near Fine dustjacket which is price-clipped. 326 pages. 12 maps and diagrams and 32 photographs. Map endpapers. On November 1992 Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dr. Michael Stroud set out from the Filchner Ice Shelf to attempt the first unassisted crossing of the Antarctic continent. It was to be a journey of epic proportions, and one that was to capture the imagination of the entire world. For 97 days the two men fought pain, starvation and snowblindness, dragging 500-pound sledges across the frozen roof of the world. They plunged into cavernous crevasses, struggled through bitter blizzards, and raced against the onset of ferocious winter. 15. Near Fine/Near Fine.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 011258

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: Antarctic Crossing 0856193756

HAYDEN, TOREY

Ghost Girl - a True Story

London, Macmillan. 1992, First Edition. (ISBN: 0333567900). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A Fine unmarked copy with near Fine dustjacket which has one small crease to one inner flap. A true story of a young girl, Jadie, who is so wounded by events in her life that she believes that she is a ghost. An elective mute, her body is so contorted as to make her appear crippled and when her new teacher, the author, who specialises in disturbed children, persuades her to speak, Jadie explains that her posture is to 'keep my insides from falling out'. The child's preoccupation with strange cultish symbols and perverted sexual acts points to an interpretation that the author's colleagues are unable to accept and are the vividly described episodes the bleak truth or the tortured imaginings of a seriously disturbed child. A gripping account of the problems of dealing with suspected child abuse and a psychological horror story. B2C. Fine/Near Fine.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 002591

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: 0333567900

HILL, CATHERINE

Dancing in the Sea - Once the Hijack Was over

Edinburgh, Mainstream. 2004, First Edition. (ISBN: 1840188774). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A Fine uninscribed copy with near Fine complete dustjacket. The moving account of the author's experience in 1986 when she and her Italian boyfriend were hijacked by PLO terrorists on a Pan Am flight from Bombay to Germany when it stopped in Pakistan, enduring 17 hours of terror. The terrorists were convinced that Pakistani troops were about to storm the plane and forces as many as possible into the aisle to massacre them and in the slaughter that followed 21 people were dead and over 100 injured. Catherine was near fatally wounded, her left buttock blown off by a grenade and in spite of his own injuries, her boyfriend Picci saved her life by dragging her, bleeding heavily, from the plane. Over the years that followed she endured over 20 operations to heal her mutilated body and also began two major lawsuits, one against Pan Am and the other for medical negligence. She had to call on every resource she had, physical, psychological, emotional and financial as she attempted to build her life. The title refers to an epiphany she had whilst on holiday in the Caribbean where she and her boyfriend danced together for the first time since the hijack. 22 photographs. 21. Fine/Near Fine.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 003216

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: 1986 Pan Am Plane Hijack in Pakistan, Plo 1840188774

TOMLINSON, JANE AND MIKE

You Can't Take It with You

London, Simon and Schuster. 2006, First Edition. (ISBN: 0743276116). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A Fine unmarked copy with Fine dustjacket which is not price clipped. First edition, first printing. 328 pages. Jane Tomkinson was just 26 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. A decade later, in 2000, she was told that the disease had spread to her bones and she had only six months to live. The devoted mother of three had to find a way to make the most of every moment left to her, and getting her body into peak physical fitness seemed right for her. She started to run, and a 5 kilometre event led to the London Marathon. In 2004 she had set her sights on a 2,000 mile Rome to Home cycle ride, and her and her brother set off on their tandem from the Vatican City with a papal blessing. But even this challenge couldn't satisfy her, and she decided to tackle the legendary Florida Ironman Triathlon - a two and a half mile swim, a 112 mile cycle and a marathon length run - and battling constant pain, she became the first terminally ill person ever to complete the course. Mike and Jane's last adventure was a gruelling 3,700 mile cycle ride from San Francisco to New York, raising pounds 1.4 million for cancer charities. 20. Fine/Fine.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 008514

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: Breast Cancer, London Marathon, Florida Ironman Triathlon 0743276116

KESSLER, RONALD

Spy Vs. Spy - Stalking Soviet Spies in America

Newton Abbot, David & Charles. 1988, First Edition. (ISBN: 0715393375). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A Fine unmarked copy with near Fine dustjacket which is not price clipped. First UK edition. This is the first book to examine closely the spy swaps, based on exclusive interviews with former American spies and counter intelligence agents as well as with Karl Koecher who was traded for Scharansky in 1986. Koecher was a KGB agent who, following his phony defection in 1965, had infiltrated the CIA and was the main discloser of American state secrets. 11. Fine/Near Fine.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 002928

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: Soviet Spies in America 0715393375

KING, DEAN

Skeletons on the Zahara - a True Story of Survival

London, William Heinemann. 2004, First. (ISBN: 0434008893). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A Fine unmarked copy with a Fine dustjacket which is not price clipped. First Edition, First Printing. 353 pages. Map endpapers. Illustrations and maps in the text. On 28 August 1815 the US brig Commerce was dashed against the rocks of Cape Bojador off the Western coast of the Sahara.and lost, although through bravery and quick thinking the ship's captain, James Riley, managed to lead all of his crew to safety. Or at least to safety from the immediate threat of death by drowning. What followed was an extraordinary and desperate battle for survival in the face of human hostility, hunger, dehydration and despair, as the crew were captured, robbed and enspaved. Sometimes together, more often apart, the sailors were dragged or driven through the desert by their new owners, who neither spoke their language nor cared for their plight - except insofar as they represented a financial investment in their own fantastically impoverished circumstances. An unforgettable true tale of survival, courage and brotherhood. D4D. Fine/Fine.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 011494

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: Cape Bojador, Western Sahara, Us Brig Commerce, Slavery, Survival 0434008893

KITCH, CHRIS

Pavement for My Pillow

London, Orion. 1997. (ISBN: 0752803409). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A near Fine unmarked copy (Fine apart from age darkening to page edges) with near Fine dustjacket which is not price clipped. x + 197 pages. Introduction by Robin Waterfield. Interspersed with joyful diary notes about her present life - studying for her MA, walking her dogs and living on her boat and then back in All Saints' Convent in Oxford - this is the remarkable story of a woman who has succeeded in transforming herself from pitiful baglady to scholar and writer. Chris Kitch was born illegitimate and brought up in the rough streets of Bradford. Her step-father did not want her, all three of her children were taken into care soon after each was born. In and out of prison with no home, she existed in a twilight world of drugs and alcohol, prostitution and homelessness. Chris survived but her beloved friend Jean didn't, dying of drug abuse. With the pavement her pillow, Piccadilly toilets her 'home' and narcotics her only friend, she dragged herself out of the gutter and into years of rehabilitation, and her thirst for knowledge was reawakened and in 1993 she was awarded her BA Honours degree. NOT EX LIB 16. Near Fine/Near Fine.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 008593

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: Baglady to Scholar 0752803409

LEVIN, SIS

Beirut Diary - a Husband Held Hostage and a Wife Determined to Set Him Free

Illinois, InterVarsity Press. 1989, First Edition. (ISBN: 0830317166). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING. A near Fine uninscribed copy which has the top right corner of the front endpaper neatly clipped. Dustjacket is complete with some chipping to top. In March 1984 Jerry Levin, bureau chief for CNN, was kidnapped in Beirut but no one knew who did it or why. His wife Sis, at first waiting for quiet diplomacy as advised by the State Department, then realised after the Iran-Contra affair that the US government's idea of quiet diplomacy was neither diplomatic nor effective. In the following months, as more Americans were kidnapped, she would travel to Syria and talk about peace, reconciliation and her concern for the children of the war. Her life tuned into a spy novel with strange meetings with Jesse Jackson, Syria's Foreign Minister, Lebanon's Shiite army leader and many more. 13. Near Fine/Very Good.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 002777

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: Lebanon Kidnap, Cnn 0830317166

MAN, JOHN

The Survival of Jan Little

London, Viking. 1986, First Edition. (ISBN: 0670811580). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A Very Good + unmarked copy with price clipped dustjacket. Jan Little survived in the depths of the Amazon jungle for months after her family had died in mysterious circumstances, she was utterly alone and BLIND. Her story begins in the Mexican town of San Cristobal,where she meets Harry Little and is overwhelmed by his compelling personality. Jan, partially sighted, has a 3 year old daughter, Rebecca and with her they follow Harry into the jungle and 12 years later, with Jan now totally blind and dependent on her patriarchal husband, they move to uncharted rainforest in northern Brazil. Tragedy strikes in 1979 when all three contract a mysterious disease and during a violent storm her life disintegrates, in an extraordinary effort of will she fights to survive in her world of darkness. 11 photographs and 3 illustrations. NOT EX LIB NOT BOOK CLUB A1E. Very Good/Very Good.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 003477

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: Amazon Jungle Survival, Blind Woman 0670811580

MARSHALL, ANDREW

The Trouser People - a Story of Burma in the Shadow of the Empire

Washington, Counterpoint. 2002, First. (ISBN: 1582431205). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. An As New copy with Fine dustjacket which is not price-clipped. First Edition, First Printing. xii + 308 pages. Part travelogue, part history, part reportage this is a vivid account of Sir George Scott, the unsung Victorian adventurer, who hacked, bullied. and charmed his way through uncharted jungle to help establish Brotish colonial rule in Burma. Scott was a die-hard imperialist with a fondness for gargantuan pith helmets and a bluffness of expression that bordered on the Pythonesque. He was also a writer and photographer who spent a lifetime documenting the tribes who lived in Burma's vast wilderness, like the Padaung 'giraffe women' and the headhunting Wild Wa, who claimed, curiously, to be descended from tadpoles. As New/Fine.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 011484

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: Burma, Sir George Scott, Wild Wa Tribe, Paudang Tribe, Giraffe Women 1582431205

MAWDSLEY, JAMES

The Heart Must Break - the Fight for Democracy and Truth in Burma

London, Century. 2001, First Edition. (ISBN: 0712679219). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A Fine copy with a Fine complete dustjacket. Map endpapers and 38 photographs. The author's very harrowing tale of being imprisoned in Insein prison just 10 hours after entering Burma and distributing pro-democracy leaflets, receiving a 17 year sentence. It was the third time he had been detained and he used his time in prison to challenge and defy the ruling regime, suffering torture, hunger strikes and over a year in solitary. A very compelling account of his four years in and out of Burma and his witnessing of the genocidal persecution of it's people as publicised in the West by Aung San Suu Kyi. A1E. Fine/Fine.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 002218

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: Burma, Fight for Democracy 0712679219

MCCORMICK, DONALD

The Master Book of Spies - the World of Espionage, Master Spies, Tortures, Interrogations, Spy Equipment, Escapes, Codes and How You Can Become a Spy

London, Hodder- Causton. 1973, First Edition. (ISBN: 0340175192). Hard Cover, 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. A Very Good+ unmarked copy with complete dustjacket. A whole inside history of spying and how each nation tackles it, together with how one becomes a spy, what spying is like and how it all works. The author, whilst limiting what he can confess to, does note that in 1942 he made an unauthorised entry into the Kasbah of Algiers to work out a detailed street map of the enemy infested area, and for whom? None other than Ian Fleming, at that time Deputy Director of British Naval Intelligence. Illustrated with photographs, contemporary illustrations, in colour sepia and black and white. 16. Very Good/Very Good.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 004713

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: True Life, Espionage 0340175192

MCMANNERS, HUGH

Crowning the Dragon - Adventures in the Chinese Karakoram

London, Grafton Books. 1989, First Edition. (ISBN: 0246133821). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Silver title on blue boards which are clean and has very light bumping to lower edge. Internally very clean, uninscribed and unmarked. A Very Good + copy. Dustjacket has light creasing to top and is complete VG+. The author Major Hugh McManners' account of joining an Army expedition to climb the world's third highest unclimbed peak. In 1982 he returned from active duty in the Falklands, subsequently suffering from depression and decided to join the ten man team led by Captain Henry Morgan to climb the 7,500 metre crown in August 1987. He was appointed 'official' cameraman and joined the group in Hong Kong, getting to know his colleagues on the long journey through China, struggling with bureaucracy and a long trek by foot and camel. They failed to reach the summit by a whisker but he learnt a great deal about himself. 61 coloured photographs and 4 maps. NOT EX LIB C3D. Very Good/Very Good.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 002360

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: China, Chinese Karakoram 0246133821

MEZRICH, BEN

Ugly Americans - the True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions

New York, William Morrow. 2004, First Edition. (ISBN: 006057500x). Hard Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING. A Fine unmarked copy with Fine complete dustjacket. The true story of John Malcolm, a hungry Princeton graduate who travelled half way round the world in search of the American dream and ultimately pulled off a trade that could be described as the biggest deal in the history of the financial markets. After receiving a mysterious phone call he packed up his few belongings and went to Japan and with barely a penny in his pocket and without speaking a word of Japanese, was thrown into the bizarre, adrenaline fuelled world of the expat trader, quickly learning to survive in a cutthroat world. Malcolm was first an assistant trading huge positions for Nick Leeson, the 26 year old rogue trader who lost nearly 2 billion Dollars which brought down Barings Bank, then he was right hand man to Dean Carney, a brilliant hedge fund cowboy who grew into the biggest derivatives trader in all of Asia. Along the way Malcolm fell in love with the daughter of a Yakuza, a Japanese gangster, built a fortune out of thin air and came head to head with the violent Japanese mobsters who helped turn the Asian markets into the turbulent casino it is today. C3B. Fine/Fine.

Goldring BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 003428

Catalogue: True Life / Adventure

Keywords: Asia, Bond Traders, Nick Leeson, John Malcolm, Barings Bank, Derivatives, Hedge Funds, Yakuza 006057500x