"As a teenager, Kate Harris realized that the career she craved--to be an explorer, equal parts swashbuckler and metaphysician--had gone extinct. From what she could tell of the world from small-town Ontario, the likes of Marco Polo and Magellan had mapped the whole earth; there was nothing left to be discovered. Looking beyond this planet, she decided to become a scientist and go to Mars. In between studying at Oxford and MIT, Harris set off by bicycle...

Widower Ian and his ten-year-old daughter Mattie take a trip across Asia to fulfill the last wish of his dead wife Kate, a journey that will bring them closer together and begin healing the wounds of the past.

"An unforgettable journey through Central Asia, one of the most mysterious and history-laden regions of the world. Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan became free of the Soviet Union in 1991. But though they are new to modern statehood, this is a region rich in ancient history, culture, and landscapes unlike anywhere else in the world. Traveling alone, Erika Fatland is a true adventurer in every sense. In Sovietistan,...

Ah Hock is an ordinary man of simple means. Born and raised in a Malaysian fishing village, he favors stability above all, a preference at odds with his rapidly modernizing surroundings. So what brings him to kill a man? While the victim has been mourned and the killer has served time for the crime, Ah Hock's motive remains unclear. His vivid confession unfurls over extensive interviews with a journalist, herself a local whose life has taken a very...

"In this lively memoir of covering the Asian Pacific Rim, a veteran reporter for National Geographic and Newsweek tells "the stories behind the stories" that reveal the hard work, skill, and luck it takes to be a successful foreign correspondent. His real-world advice about everything from successful travel planning, to finding a great local fixer, to dealing with circumstances that can range from friendly to formidable makes this book a practical...

""One of the best [books] I've read about the individuals who make up a country that is all too often regarded as a monolith."--Jonathan Fenby, Financial Times If China will rule the world one day, who will rule China? There are more than 320 million Chinese between the ages of sixteen and thirty. Children of the one-child policy, born after Mao, with no memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre, they are the first net native generation to come of age...

Explore all of Bangkok's nooks and crannies. Get picture-taking tips from a photojournalist, and visit the fruit and vegetable markets where Thai cooking begins. In the heart of Thailand's Golden Triangle, take an idyllic long-tailed boat ride along the Kok River, luxuriate in out-of-this-world guest houses and a tented resort, and go bargain hunting at the Night Market.

Alex Strong was only 11 years old, living with his family on their rubber tree plantation on Basilan island, Philippines, when World War II broke out. This fascinating book details his and his future wife Norma's family's journey through the dark days of war to a brighter future that they themselves created. After the days of occupation, starvation and deprivation, the incredible story of how two families caught in the turmoil of war discovered their...

Written by men who flew the missions and gathered together the recollections of their comrades, this is an account of the political, social, cultural, technical and combat context of an extraordinary side of the Vietnam conflict. An account touching on topics ranging from Thai supernaturalism to high tech warfare, it is also the very human story of American airmen obliged to keep heady secrets and perform demanding tasks under menacing conditions....