From Pole to Pole: A Book for Young People

This book was first published in 1912. It is a simplified English translation of the author's Från pol till pol: genom Asien och Europa (Bonnier, Stockholm, 1911). Part 1 tells of Hedin's own extensive travels across Europe and Asia. Hedin visited Turkey, the Caucasus, Tehran, Iraq, lands of the Kyrgyz people and the Russian Far East, India, China and Japan. He provides fascinating descriptions of cities and peoples and events in the closing years of the 19th century. It's a fascinating travelogue. Part 2 recounts the stories of other great explorers/adventurers/villains: Gordon at Khartoum, Livingstone and Stanley in Africa, the destruction of the Inca empire by Pizzaro, hunting the blue whale in southern waters, Shackleton's near miss of the South Pole...even a mention of Alexander Selkirk, as an excuse for retailing the adventures of Robinson Crusoe. It's a very mixed bag, designed to appeal "to young people." (Summary by Steven Seitel)