Eccentric Explorers

Unravelling the Mysteries of Tibet —
Wild and Wacky Adventurers of the Tibetan Plateau

Available November 2008
Softcover, 400 pages, 120 illustrations

Get in the saddle for a riproaring ride as you follow in the tracks of ten eccentric explorers—each on a quest to unlock the secrets of reclusive Tibet. Are they nuts? Are they crackers? You bet. Among them you will find:

• mad Yorkshireman Maurice Wilson, who set his sights on climbing Everest—and to speed things up, decided to try and crashland a biplane on the lower slopes…
• secret agent Eric 'the Hatter' Bailey, who shot his way through Tibet—but who could be easily distracted—in the most life-threatening of situations—by the sighting of a new butterfly species…
• the indomitable Alexandra David-Neel, an ex-opera singer who—when cornered by Tibetan bandits—let loose such a blood-curdling string of curses, they begged her to stop—fearing she was a wrathful demon

This book is a treasure-trove of tales from a far-away place, and an era erased by the shifting sands of time—and by Chinese invasion. Drawing from his own mad journeys in Tibet, Buckley brings out the best of both the majestic Tibetans and the Western explorers portrayed.
—PAT MORROW, first to climb the Seven Summits (Carstensz Pyramid variation), and veteran of six expeditions to the wilds of Tibet

See sample text

Top