The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across The South Seas
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Markings: Previous owner
In 1947, six men lashed together a primitive balsa-wood raft and set sail from the coast of Peru, gambling their lives on a bold theory that ancient South Americans could have populated Polynesia thousands of years before European contact — and The Kon-Tiki Expedition is Thor Heyerdahl's gripping firsthand chronicle of that death-defying 4,300-mile voyage across the Pacific. Heyerdahl details the breathtaking dangers of open-ocean travel — raging storms, circling sharks, towering waves — alongside the strange, almost meditative beauty of weeks spent adrift under open skies, far beyond the reach of civilization. The raft, named after the Incan sun god, becomes both vessel and symbol, carrying not just men and supplies, but a radical argument about the audacity of ancient seafarers and the connectedness of human cultures across vast distances. Translated from the Norwegian and rendered into vivid, accessible prose by F.H. Lyon, the narrative transcends its genre, functioning simultaneously as edge-of-your-seat adventure, rigorous anthropological argument, and a profound meditation on human courage and curiosity. Heyerdahl's writing radiates an infectious wonder for the natural world — luminous plankton lighting the sea at night, whale sharks drifting alongside the raft, flying fish landing on deck at dawn — capturing a world utterly untouched by modernity. One of the best-selling works of narrative non-fiction of the 20th century, this is a book that will leave you questioning just how far — and by what improbable means — humanity has always been willing to travel.
Author: Thor Heyerdahl
Format: Hardback
Genre: Travel & exploration
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Markings: Previous owner
In 1947, six men lashed together a primitive balsa-wood raft and set sail from the coast of Peru, gambling their lives on a bold theory that ancient South Americans could have populated Polynesia thousands of years before European contact — and The Kon-Tiki Expedition is Thor Heyerdahl's gripping firsthand chronicle of that death-defying 4,300-mile voyage across the Pacific. Heyerdahl details the breathtaking dangers of open-ocean travel — raging storms, circling sharks, towering waves — alongside the strange, almost meditative beauty of weeks spent adrift under open skies, far beyond the reach of civilization. The raft, named after the Incan sun god, becomes both vessel and symbol, carrying not just men and supplies, but a radical argument about the audacity of ancient seafarers and the connectedness of human cultures across vast distances. Translated from the Norwegian and rendered into vivid, accessible prose by F.H. Lyon, the narrative transcends its genre, functioning simultaneously as edge-of-your-seat adventure, rigorous anthropological argument, and a profound meditation on human courage and curiosity. Heyerdahl's writing radiates an infectious wonder for the natural world — luminous plankton lighting the sea at night, whale sharks drifting alongside the raft, flying fish landing on deck at dawn — capturing a world utterly untouched by modernity. One of the best-selling works of narrative non-fiction of the 20th century, this is a book that will leave you questioning just how far — and by what improbable means — humanity has always been willing to travel.