This book focuses on 25 Adventurers. Unlike many other armchair travel books this one focuses on what they packed and how that helped or hindered their expedition. Some of the expeditions were familiar but many were new to me. I really liked that many forgotten women explorers were included. The expeditions are just as varied as what they packed. There are helpful diagrams to explain what each expedition packed and often the reason why something was included. Enjoy the armchair adventurers.

I have an E copy of the ARC by the publishers (I love the wide range of topics they cover in their publications) which expires tomorrow and it might e yet another of their books that I might actually purchase this at some point in the future. The review, however, is based entirely on my own reading experience. 

This book is a list of some well-known and a few lesser-known (at least to me) expeditions conducted either individually or in slightly bigger groups around the world. It includes the finer details of the expeditions, mostly the kits that they carry to survive, supplies to explore and deal with the main focus of their respective expeditions. It is excellent fodder for anyone interested in how much of a luxury the current and past explorers had, the difference between them and for someone who has not even been glamping let alone camping, it seemed fascinating that people put themselves through such discomfort on purpose. It is for a higher cause, either to advance the information people had or sometimes just to meet a challenge. The personality of the expedition is also brought into scrutiny in this manner. There is always that one quirk for every expedition that was amusing as well as interesting since we are talking about both men and women and in different eras! Two or more pages are devoted to the complete story behind the expeditions for the lovers of adventures as well

The author's personal interest in the field of exploration has brought him up close with choices that he makes on a regular basis and that adds to the information he lays before us. Whichever way it is looked at, it is a unique book with equally unique content and anyone with a semblance of interest in real-life explorers/adventurers will spend quality time with it.

Being written by such a seasoned explorer and survivalist as Ed Stafford gives this wonderfully enthralling book an extra resonance and dimension. Here Stafford examines 25 great expeditions (including his own) with a particular emphasis on the actual kit and equipment that was taken. With Stafford's added insight we learn about the importance of making the right choice of what to take and the deadly consequences if this is not done.

The choice of explorers is eclectic and the book includes journeys made over land, sea and air. From traversing deserts to climbing mountains, from the deepest jungles of the Amazon to the frozen wastes of Antarctica are covered here. Some of the explorers I was of course familiar with but others were quite new to me. The inherent danger in undertaking such expeditions is evidenced by the fact that a number of those featured did not survive. Exploration is not only a male preserve and there are a number of female explorers to be found here.

An interesting collection of archive photographs and well drawn illustrations compliment the informative narrative and we learn how with the progression of science the equipment developed and changed. This is one of those books that can be picked up and read time after time and there is always something new to discover. Whether for yourself or for a gift to another I think this makes an excellent acquisition.

It was so interesting and inspiring to read about the amazing feats all these different explorers accomplished. The incredible photos really added to the experience of reading this book.

When you think about a real-life expedition, what comes to your mind? Perhaps Edmund Hillary reaching the Everest summit or Amelie Earhart’s solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean comes to mind.

But have you read about explorer Nellie Bly’s trip around the world in 72 days? Have you read about Roald Amundsen’s expedition to the South Pole? Have you read about Robin Knox Johnston’s incredible solo sailing expedition around the world OR Reinhold Messner’s unbelievable feat of climbing Everest without oxygen?

In this unique and enthralling book, explorer and survivalist Ed Stafford has picked 25 great expeditions. "Expeditions Unpacked: What the Great Explorers Took into the Unknown" is a fascinating look at 25 explorers through history. Arranged chronologically, it’s a look at how the explorers have set new benchmarks for adventure and human endurance over the years.

Each adventure begins with a photo of the explorer and an illustration of items the explorer used, their birth and death dates, and a brief biography, as well as a chart identifying each of the items gives readers a glimpse of that subject.

Ed Stafford also tells a brief story of each expedition (some narrated by the adventurer) which plenty of twists and turns in every adventure. The narrative keeps you on the edge throughout as not every expedition has ended successfully.

One of the highlights of this book is the stunning rare & real-life photographs of each expedition which make you feel a part of the adventure. From a round trip of the world in an air balloon, cycles and Skis to exploring the Amazon and Australian Outback, with 25 unique expeditions and each expedition is a unique story, both informative and thrilling.

The book has given a special focus on equipment. In an environment where lack of preparation could mean certain death, the equipment carried provides a unique perspective of how equipment proved to be a difference and how it is has improved over the years. The only thing missing from this book was a map showing the routes taken.

Overall, Expeditions Unpacked is a book that simply blows you away with some fascinating real-life stories and incredible photos. Each adventure is enough to pique the reader's interest and encourage further research into each adventure. This is one coffee table book you don’t want to miss. Highly Recommended!!!

Many thanks to the publishers Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

Expeditions Unpacked is a book I didn't know I needed in my life and now that it's there I want 100 more just like it. This book covers 25 explorers who were the first to accomplish a goal in their field, such as the first person to climb Everest, walking the Amazon River, or the first human-powered circumnavigation of the globe, to name a few. Each entry has a list accompanied by illustrations of 20-30 items the explorer had with them on their journey. There are also pictures included throughout the book and they help you imagine what these adventures were like. I especially enjoyed the stories about women because I am a wuss and can't see myself ever doing anything too adventurous (bugs love me) but it is fun to imagine where I would go and what I would pack. I would have liked to see a bit more variety as many of them seemed to focus on polar or mountain expeditions (they just made me cold) but this is still an excellent read, highly recommended.

I can’t claim to have read all of this book because it’s an e-review copy and the print is too difficult for me to read comfortably. It’s an interesting format though as each explorer’s adventures are summarised together with a list of some of the items they took with them. I’ll definitely look for the hard copy of this when it’s published.

This is a book that quickly earns its five star status. People who know a lot about explorations – who went where, with whom, and to what end – may well be pleased by the fact this book literally unpacks each trip – taking all the relevant bits of the equipment out their packaging and laying them out for us to see (not to scale). So we go from the Inuit-provided clothing of the first major subjects here, to the frankly risible idea that gear designed to keep people soloing the South Pole alive in minus 50 has to have an on-message name, like Therm-a-rest; from the days of pemmican to modern, DNA-profile matching gunk that, well, might as well be pemmican; and from the use of life-vests to "personal flotation devices". But this book is also wonderful for the lay reader, for while highly pictorial its text packs a punch, describing the solo round-the-world yacht voyages, or the first person to do this or that. Catering for all-comers, and really giving us an insight into the preparation and over-weight baggage fines of these trips, this is a wonderful purchase. Late essays featuring things not listed in the pictorial packing list, and an apparent inability to spell "eke" don't stop this being more than ideal for the armchair traveller in your life.

A fantastic book. All the usual stunning photographs you expect with books about great expeditions, but also the far more interesting information regarding what these people actually took with them!
Whilst the premise appears to be frivolous, it is actually very educational, and gives an extra depth and perspective to these stories beyond what we are used to.

A brilliant idea covering expeditions right up to a couple of years ago.

I will definitely buy this book.

An absolutely enthralling and fascinating book, about some well known expeditions & some far less well known ones, all viewed from “inside the bag” - looking at the equipment that each of the explorers took with them.
The book was easy to dip in & out of, as each explorer had their own section, which followed roughly chronologically. There is just the right combination of historical facts with amusing anecdote to make it accessible to a wide variety of readers.

I learnt so much about the explorers and about the expeditions - I never knew that Hillary & Tensing could, and probably should, have been beaten to the summit of Everest by Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans (nope, i’d never heard of them either) but for a failure of a new oxygen system. It’s absolutely fascinating to discover how the equipment has evolved - it would be a significant challenge to today’s explorers to climb Everest using the same kit that was used in 1953! We also see how a lack of preparation/the wrong equipment could not only lead to the success or failure of an expedition but to death.
Looking at the decisions they each made about kit, their planning & preparation, we can far better understand why Amundsen beat Scott to the South Pole ...

The fact that the book is written by an explorer gives it a unique perspective & the unique photos make this both a “coffee-table” book and an interesting historical record ...