Something Lost Behind the Ranges: The Autobiography of John Blashford-Snell - Hardcover

Blashford-Snell, John

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9780002550345: Something Lost Behind the Ranges: The Autobiography of John Blashford-Snell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002550342 ISBN 13: 9780002550345

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1994

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John Blashford-Snell spent his World War II childhood experimenting with chemicals, discovering mines and leading a life of mischief. It was a natural progression to enter Sandhurst, where he learned the nuts and bolts of leadership - he already had the flair and personality. Three great expeditions - interspersed with stints in Northern Ireland and the MOD - were to dominate the next 15 years. In the first he led a team of scientists and servicemen down the Blue Nile through unmapped and unknown territory, encountering rapids, fierce natives and 15-foot crocodiles. The second was a race against time, in the face of vicious wildlife, to discover a route across the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia. The third adventure required giant inflatable boats - to course the Zaire River from the middle of Africa to the Atlantic, through war zones and tropical storms, seeking a cure for river blindness. In the wake of these expeditions Blashford-Snell launched Operation Drake, then Operation Raleigh, which is still exploring today. These memoirs enter a world of adventure and discovery.

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From the Back Cover:

It is not difficult to see why Royal Engineer Colonel John Blashford-Snell has been called the British Indiana Jones. His expeditions are the stuff of legend, except that they are true...

Whatever terrain you care to think of – rain-soaked jungle, snake-filled swamp, scorching desert or raging torrent – Blashford-Snell has paddled, hacked, ploughed or dynamited his way through it. It was Blashford-Snell who led the first descent of the Blue Nile, who forced the first vehicular passage of the jungles of the entire Darien Gap between North and South America, and who first navigated 2,700 miles of the Zaire river, combating exhaustion, stress, health crises, crocodiles, broken limbs and angry, rifle-toting tribesmen along the way. In the wake of these expeditions he set up Operation Drake and Operation Raleigh, and shows no signs of stopping yet – as his action-packed memoirs reveal, his team has recently tackled vital aid and conservation tasks in the Mongolian Gobi, and discovered giant elephants in a Himalayan valley...

Full of wit, thrills and excitement, 'Something Lost Behind the Ranges' enters a world of adventure and discovery, conjuring up a picture of a true-life 'Boy’s Own' hero.

“As incident piles on incident, and crocodiles, bandits and precipices tumble over each other in the pages of this remarkable soldier’s tale, it is impossible not to be impressed and enthralled”
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

“A stream of entertaining anecdotes...an unswerving display of humour and optimism”
CLARE FRANCIS

“A witty and exciting book”
DAILY TELEGRAPH

About the Author:

John Blashford-Snell started his career in the army and then set up Operation Raleigh. He has been on over 60 expeditions in almost every part of the world. He now organizes exploration projects with emphasis on conservation, environmental issues and wildlife.

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