For over sixty years, Colonel John Blashford-Snell has undertaken expeditions across the globe, forging paths through deserts, mountains and jungles, breaking barriers and setting records. Here, for the first time, is his comprehensive account of those incredible decades. Featuring cameos from a wealth of celebrities and royalty - from Sean Connery to Emperor Haile selasie - the author's adventures are both hair-raising and heart-warming, as he dodges gunfire from bandits on the Ethiopian Blue Nile, leads the first-ever vehicle crossing of the treacherous Darién Gap in Panama and Colombia, searches for the elusive 'king elephant' in Nepal, and even delivers a grand piano to a remote tribe in Guyana. Founder of the Scientific Exploration Society, and operations Drake and Raleigh with HRH the Prince of Wales, Blashford-Snell knows the hidden spaces of the world like no-one else. Filled with humanity, beauty and peril, this is an extraordinary account of an extraordinary life. Book jacket.