(尼罗河的秘密)MYSTERY OF THE NILE (P): THE EPIC OF THE FIRST DESCENT OF THE
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作者： Richard Bangs著
出 版 社： 励马文化传播
出版时间： 2005-12-1字数：版次： 1页数： 294印刷时间： 2006/02/01开本：印次：纸张： 胶版纸I S B N ： 9780451217554包装： 平装编辑推荐
作者简介：
Richard Bangs is the author of fifteen books, including the recent win-ner of the National Book Award for Outdoor Literature, The Lost River.A past president of Outward Bound; founder of Mountain Travel Sobek, the world's leading travel adventure company; and a founding member of Expedia.com, he spent seven years as an executive at Microsoft. Codirector of the IMAX~ film The Mystery of the Nile, he has appeared on Today, CBS Good Morning, Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kelly, MSNBC, and CNN, among others, and has been a visiting lecturer at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Society, the Explorers Club, and many other museums and universities. He lives in Redmond, Washington.
内容简介
Book DescriptionThe Nile has been called the Everest of rivers， and for centuries， the quest to find its source was the holy grail of human exploration. For those who dared to venture upriver， the possibility of navigating the majestic Nile had been but a tantalizing dream. But on April 28， 2004， renowned adventurer Pasquale Scaturro， along with his partner， Gordon Brown， made history. Starting at the holy springs of Gish in Ethiopia， they led an expedition that completed the epic first descent of the Blue Nile and Nile in 114 days. Traveling more than 3，000 miles by kayak and raft， they battled nearly every imaginable peril to conquer this great river-the world's most dangerous rapids， man-eating crocodiles， AK-47-toting guerrillas， blinding sandstorms， and tropical diseases. Written with critically acclaimed author Richard Bangs， this breathtaking tale vividly reveals the tantalizing thrill of adventure and the intoxicating rush of the Nile.From Publishers WeeklyExplorers have always clamored to be the first， and after centuries of such conquests， there are precious few left. One first that hadn't been fully achieved， however， was navigating the Nile from its source in Ethiopia to where it pours into the Mediterranean near Alexandria. In 2004， Scaturro and Gordon Brown， two men with shockingly little regard for their own safety， undertook this expedition， running the 3，000 miles of river in some terrible conditions. Ostensibly， the point of this trip was to make an IMAX film of it （which will be released in February）， but readers soon learn that the journey was an end in itself. The book's beginning， as the pair start out in Ethiopia， is fascinating; they explore ancient churches and convince suspicious locals they aren't a threat. Bangs， an expert river guide， and geophysicist Scaturro explain how the team undergoes harrowing stretches of whitewater and evades flotillas of aggressive crocodiles， painfully negotiating their way north， through the Sudan and into Egypt. The material for a raw and thrilling adventure is definitely here， but alas， the narrative never sustains much momentum， constantly flashing back to other exciting episodes in Scaturro's life in a manner that eventually feels like padding. From BooklistScaturro and his partner， Gordon Brown， led an expedition that on April 28， 2004， completed the first descent of the Blue Nile River; it took 114 days. They traveled 3，260 miles by kayak and raft， from the highlands of Ethiopia and through Sudan and Eygpt. Bangs and Scaturro are longtime friends， and Bangs relied on Scaturro's journals in writing this book. He describes the journey's perils：dangerous rapids， armed guerrillas， man-eating crocodiles， polluted water， temperatures as high as 125 degrees， sandstorms， windstorms， and exhaustion. Bangs declares that at one point during the journey "they scanned the horizon in all directions. There was nothing at all. They were in the middle of nowhere." With a 16-page color insert and a brief history of earlier explorations， this is a moving account of an incredible journey.George CohenFrom School Library JournalAdult/High School–In a beautifully integrated confluence of story lines， Bangs combines a historian's reflections on the passing terrain and its ancient civilizations with a contemporary adventurer's riveting account of transiting one of the planet's most extreme environments. From a small sacred pool in the Ethiopian highlands to where the river flows into the Mediterranean over 3200 miles away， the water-borne expedition not only had to navigate Class IV to VI rapids， but also to overcome tropical disease and encounters with armed guerrillas， man-eating crocodiles， sandstorms， and political barriers. The expedition's initial stage involved an ambitious IMAX filming project， which was followed by a core team's effort to complete the record-setting descent of the Blue Nile， traveling past Khartoum， through Sudan， and ultimately to Egypt in 114 days. Scaturro， geophysicist and experienced mountaineer/river explorer who led the venture， kept a journal that forms the basis for the book， and Brown， world-class kayaker， served also as cameraman. With telling detail， this book captures many levels of drama， conveying with insight and a sense of immediacy leadership challenges， logistical crises， and split-second decision-making， as well as reflections on large-scale issues such as environmental consequences of redirecting the flow of the Nile for power-generation schemes. The volume contains two black-and-white maps and a 16-page insert of color photographs， which are key to illuminating the sheer enormity of the undertaking.–Lynn Nutwell， Fairfax City Regional Library， VA About AuthorRichard Bangs won the National Book Award for Outdoor Literature for The Lost River and is co-director of the IMAX film， The Mystery of the Nile. In 2001， Pasquale Scaturro led the National Federation of the Blind Mount Everest Expedition that broke four Himalayan climbing records and became a Time magazine cover story. In 2004， he became the first person， with Gordon Brown， to complete the full descent of the Blue Nile and Nile.
