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Sign up todayBeyond the Trees
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Learn moreA mesmerizing odyssey through an unforgiving landscape, and the rich history it reveals.
What does it mean to explore and confront the unknown? Beyond the Trees recounts Adam Shoalts's epic, never-before-attempted solo crossing of Canada's mainland Arctic in a single season. It's also a multilayered story that weaves the narrative of Shoalts's journey into accounts of other adventurers, explorers, First Nations, fur traders, dreamers, eccentrics, and bush pilots to create an unforgettable tale of adventure and exploration.
Interspersed with his stories of navigating mazes of shifting ice floes, facing down snarling bears and galloping musk-ox, and portaging along knife-edge cliffs above furious rapids, are the fascinating legends, historic persons, and incredible anecdotes that make up the lore of the North. They include the saga of the Mad Trapper, a man whose feats of endurance and ingenuity were almost as legendary as his violent end; the story of the controversial Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a redoubtable dreamer but also one who was blamed for the deaths of his companions; the tale of the "Lost Patrol" of the Mounties who perished in a blinding blizzard; the formidable Tyrell brothers who together charted much of Canada's North; the eerie ruins of Fort Confidence that was built nearly two centuries ago on Great Bear Lake; and the decaying remnants of gold prospector David Douglas's cabin overlooking the Dease River. The North is indeed a perilous place. Also told in the book is the tragedy of John Hornby and his two companions who starved to death on the banks of the Thelon River; their bones are still resting just above the riverbank in shallow graves.
Beyond the Trees also discusses folklore about wendigoes, strange lights, and the mystery of Angikuni Lake, where in 1930 an entire Inuit camp supposedly vanished without a trace. These mysteries and wonders are Shoalts's only companions as he sets out on his own path through the adventure of a lifetime.
ADAM SHOALTS has been called one of Canada’s greatest living explorers and in 2018 was named an Explorer-in-Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. He is also an historian, archaeologist, and geographer, and his book Alone Against the North was a #1 national bestseller. His second book, A History of Canada in Ten Maps was also national bestseller. Shoalts holds a Ph.D. from McMaster University where his doctoral research examined the influence Indigenous oral traditions had on explorers and fur traders in Canada’s subarctic and Pacific Northwest. He has done archaeology in four countries and enjoys long walks in the woods.
ADAM SHOALTS has been called one of Canada’s greatest living explorers and in 2018 was named an Explorer-in-Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. He is also an historian, archaeologist, and geographer, and his book Alone Against the North was a #1 national bestseller. His second book, A History of Canada in Ten Maps was also national bestseller. Shoalts holds a Ph.D. from McMaster University where his doctoral research examined the influence Indigenous oral traditions had on explorers and fur traders in Canada’s subarctic and Pacific Northwest. He has done archaeology in four countries and enjoys long walks in the woods.
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Audiobook details
Author:
Adam Shoalts
Narrator:
Adam Shoalts
ISBN:
9780735238893
Length:
9 hours 59 minutes
Language:
English
Publisher:
Penguin Canada
Publication date:
October 8, 2019
Edition:
Unabridged
Libro.fm rank:
#46,993 Overall
Genre rank:
#4,117 in History
Reviews
National Bestseller“[Shoalts] brings us along on his solo journey across the Arctic, infused with the wonder of seeing this majestic land and the urgency of making it back before winter sets in.”
—Toronto Star
“[A]mple moments of adrenaline and suspense and descriptions of breathtaking natural beauty in his voyages, but it’s his thirst for the unknown—the blank spots—that resonated.”
—The New York Review of Books
“When reading Beyond the Trees, one gets the impression of author Adam Shoalts as a kind of Jack Kerouac meets Jack Reacher: an obsessive wanderer at his calmest in the midst of catastrophe.”
—Atlantic Books Today
“[Beyond the Trees] might just soothe your need for adventure. . . . wonder-filled . . . [a] beautiful book.”
—BuzzFeed
“. . . the adventure of a lifetime [told] in thrilling detail.”
—TVO
“A wild adventure...riveting.”
—Montreal Gazette
“[A] rousing adventure story . . .”
—Canada.com
“[An] homage to the wilds of the Canadian North. . . . If you love an outdoor adventure, Beyond the Trees is for you.”
—Kamloops Matters Expand reviews