Bent Northrop Memorial Library

"For millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe – and extend their colonial empires. Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke twenty-nine...

Citing frequently from Champlain's own published accounts of his explorations of New France, Legare chronicles Champlain's intense efforts to publicize, map, and colonize the northeastern shores of North America and the valley of the St. Lawrence. From 1603 until his death in 1635, Samuel de Champlain devoted all of his energies to giving France a foothold in the New World. -- from Amazon.com

"In 1910, Captain Robert Scott prepared his crew for a trip that no one had ever completed: a journey to the South Pole. He vowed to get there any way he could, even if it meant looking death in the eye. Then, not long before he set out, the telegram arrived: "Proceeding to Antarctic - Roald Amundsen." What was to be an expedition had become a race. One hundred and eight years later, Captain Louis Rudd readied himself for a similarly grueling task:...

In the years following the Civil War, "Arctic fever" gripped the American public, fueled by myths of a fertile, tropical sea at the top of the world. Several explorers attempted to find a route to the North Pole, but none succeeded. Bound by Ice follows the journey of George Washington De Long and the crew of the USS Jeannette , who departed San Francisco in the summer of 1879 hoping to find a route to the North Pole. However, in mid-September the...