The Duke of the Abruzzi: An Explorer's Life

Rating:
Summary: Author puts turn-of-the-century explorer in perspective
Review: "The Duke of the Abruzzi: An Explorer's Life" is the result of a four-year collaboration between myself and Mirella Tenderini, a noted Italian climbing writer. It is the first complete biography of the Duke and it's taken a century for his story to be told. Previous historians have been frustrated, as we have, because his journals were either lost or destroyed. This is not surprising because throughout his amazing life he was a private, even secretive man, who loved walking unrecognized in public places and mixing with the average person. It is doubtful he would want anyone writing about his private thoughts in years to come.

Writing about the Duke's accomplishments early this century, Edward Whymper, the conqueror of the Matterhorn, suggested that the Duke's exploits were often overshadowed by lesser expeditions because his had not resulted in a great loss of life or an epic struggle to survive. Meticulously planned, his expeditions would become the model of many climbs and expeditions to follow. (While the Duke's expedition accounts were not best sellers of their day, these lavish books now fetch up to $2,000 per copy.)

Who was the Duke of the Abruzzi? Before the Olympics or World Cup events, national honor was played out through mountain climbing and exploration to the Nile and the Poles. The Duke claimed a number of prizes, including Alaska's treasured Mt. St. Elias in 1897. He led an expedition to establish the farthest North to the Pole mark in 1899, and in 1906 he became the first to climb the Ruwenzori range and map the Nile basin -- a feat that had defeated many previous explorers. In 1909, he established an altitude record on K2 via a ridge which now bears his name. (The record stood until 1922 when climbers were allowed to climb Mt. Everest.) The Duke finally became famous in 1907, though unintentionally, when his love affair with an American debutante became the romance of the age and made the front pages of newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic. After leading Italy's navy as an! admiral during the First World War, the Duke retired to Africa where he served as a diplomat in Ethiopia and a humanitarian in Somaliland, where he created fields of crops in an uninhabitable desert. Though many explorers are more well known, few can match the scope of the Duke's life.

"It is a moving story, well told, of a person who performed heroic deeds but exemplified unheroic virtues. The Duke's dignity and integrity stand in contrast to the smash-and-grab greed of 19th century colonialism, and of today's culture of celebrity mountaineering." -- Joel Connelly, the national correspondent for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Last November, Mirella and I were please to receive the very prestigious Primo Gambrinus Award for exploration literature by the Giuseppe Mazzotti Foundation in Italy for the Italian version of the book by DeAgostini, "Il Duca Degli Abruzzi: Principe delle Montagne" (The Duke of the Abruzzi: Mountain Prince).

I hope you enjoy the book and I will look forward to hearing from you, Best regards, Michael Shandrick

Rating:
Summary: I wish I bought some other book; IT A 0 OUT OF 10!
Review: I find a terrible contradiction in Authers' philosophy. The book's content and context are surprisingly bad--many unclear, unidiomatic and repetitive false statement.It do not have a clear central idea that has a strong voice to support his idea. This book only reflects authors's opinion. I wish I bought some other book; IT A 0 OUT OF 10!

Rating:
Summary: I wish I bought some other book; IT A 0 OUT OF 10!
Review: I find a terrible contradiction in Authers' philosophy. The book's content and context are surprisingly bad--many unclear, unidiomatic and repetitive false statement.It do not have a clear central idea that has a strong voice to support his idea. This book only reflects authors's opinion. I wish I bought some other book; IT A 0 OUT OF 10!

Rating:
Summary: Echoes of a Life Spent on Edge
Review: Tenderini and Shandrick weave a powerful account of one explorers life in this well composed biography of a sovereign turned mountaineer. The Duke of the Abrizzi was one of the ironheared forerunners of the alpinist breed who preceded the fluffy, 'conquer-but-don't-experience' mountaineers of the last ten years. Shouldered up against the backdrop of the shaken world order of the turn of the last century, the words of the writers breed within the reader a vision of the routes (mountain and sea) upon which the Duke traveled with his constant band of likeminded aquaintences. A very scholarly approach to the headwaters of the mountaineering sub-culture which has become a torrent in our age.

Rating:
Summary: Echoes of a Life Spent on Edge
Review: Tenderini and Shandrick weave a powerful account of one explorers life in this well composed biography of a sovereign turned mountaineer. The Duke of the Abrizzi was one of the ironheared forerunners of the alpinist breed who preceded the fluffy, 'conquer-but-don't-experience' mountaineers of the last ten years. Shouldered up against the backdrop of the shaken world order of the turn of the last century, the words of the writers breed within the reader a vision of the routes (mountain and sea) upon which the Duke traveled with his constant band of likeminded aquaintences. A very scholarly approach to the headwaters of the mountaineering sub-culture which has become a torrent in our age.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book Waiting to be Explored
Review: this is one of the best expedition book i've ever read. i'm from the yukon territory in canada, and i certainly can find myself relating to the story. the landscape description is precise and amazing. the mountains. the snow. the water. and the lake. all beautifully described. i'm so proud to be a yukonian. and this book should certainly be read for all those who loves to explore the great outdoor or and the undisturbed mountains of the world.