Thor Heyerdahl

Describes the formation, geography, ecology, and inhabitants of the isolated Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean.

A very young Thor Heyerdahl sets out with his new wife for paradise - a natural and unspoiled world that they sought and, to a degree, found in the South Pacific. It was the first of many journeys that would lead to expeditions and explorations, to a vocation, to the testing of theories against the currents of oceans and history, to books that would include Kon-Tiki, Aku-Aku, and Easter Island, and would bring him worldwide fame and renown. This warm, spirited, amusing memoir of Heyerdahl's youth is the key to his future life. We see the early emergence of certain of his basic ideas and beliefs: that ancient man, previously believed to he primitive and confined by the oceans, knew more and traveled farther than had been suspected; that the natural world was even then endangered and was well worth preserving; that individuals and peoples could live peacefully together, find common problems and uncommon joys. This is a love story, an adventure story, a documentary based on journals the young Thor kept at the time, and a prophet's brief but unrestrained, unabashed sermon-polemic on why the seas, like the cities, should no longer be unthinkingly polluted in the pursuit of profits, and why the contempt for nature is as much a crime against the planet as a capital offense against humanity.

"Well-illustrated synthesis of multi-year excavations at a city of the Lambayeque culture extending over 220 hectares with 26 major pyramids, and founded ca. AD 1100"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.

Describes the expedition that retraced the trade routes that may have existed between Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and Egypt a thousand years before Christ.

Discusses the ships, navigational systems, achievements, and discoveries of ancient seamen and examines their influence on the spread of culture in the ancient world and on subsequent exploration.

Ancient, Polynesian, Archaeological, Expedition to verify the ancient relationship of the Easter Island Polynesian with the indigenous Peruvian peoples.

The author recounts the planning for his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in an Egyptian reed boat and describes the voyage made by himself and his crew.

Presents the Kon-Tiki expedition led by explorer Thor Heyerdahl as he and his crew travel from South America and Polynesia on a raft made from balsa wood.