Against the Odds: The Incredible Struggles of 20 Great Adventurers

By Author / Illustrator

Alastair Humphreys, Pola Mai

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

Publisher

Templar Publishing

ISBN

9781787410169

Format

Hardback

Published

20-07-2023

Synopsis

Sometimes adventure, like life, doesn't work out as you want it to. Even determined explorers make mistakes. Many of the greatest adventurers of all time have failed along the way...

Hand-picked by adventurer Alastair Humphreys, this compilation retells the extraordinary journeys undertaken by explorers who have tried, failed and succeeded against the odds. It features adventurers whose expeditions went desperately wrong, turning into struggles for survival. And adventurers who had to fight for their right to succeed in the face of discrimination or setbacks that threatened to squash their dreams. These are stories of self-belief, resilience, friendship, courage, determination and hope - against the odds.

Featuring explorers modern and ancient, from Zheng He to Joe Simpson, Jeanne Baret to Matthew Henson, these men and women ventured into space, oceans, deserts and jungles, and may inspire you to do the same.

"We often hold a very narrow ideas of what 'success' means. We think that if we don't reach a certain outcome, then we've failed and wasted our time. But in this book, you are going to read of changed plans leading to greater happiness, of personal disaster opening the door to wonderful experiences, of lessons learned from compromising, and even occasions when mere survival is triumph enough." - Alastair Humphreys

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Reviews

Against The Odds is an exciting new book about incredible struggles of twenty great adventurers. Author Alastair Humphreys has hand-picked extraordinary journeys undertaken by adventurers from across the world.

This book is an inspirational collection of stories about adventurers who have tried, failed and succeeded against the odds. The explorers in this book have cycled across continents, ventured into space, oceans, deserts and jungles. One adventurer - Jeanne Baret - even risked her life to be able to embark on an expedition of a lifetime even though her country forbid women to partake in such things. These heroic people often had to endure setbacks that threatened to destroy their dreams, which ultimately makes the characters in this book inspiring, courageous and often they show sheer determination to succeed in the face of discrimination and prejudice. Pola Mai is the illustrator of this book and she helps enhance the stories through her depiction of the characters.

Each story takes the reader on a journey and there are often maps, graphic novel elements and an insightful note from the author about why the adventurer has inspired him. I love the layout of the book as it makes it easier to read and follow. Children will be amazed at the vast range of explorers that stretch across the globe.

This book is also an excellent mix of post- and modern history and children will be able to identify some of the characters but will be fascinated by the ones that they do not know. Pupils will be able to connect with the characters within this book and the stories could be used to support learning in history, science and geography - children learning about Space would find Jack Swigert's stories captivating as it can be seen as both a failure and success.

I would truly recommend this book for every school library and I feel that these stories could be used in KS2 to produce some inspirational pieces of writing.

96 pages / Reviewed by Hayley Summerfield, teacher