You might believe that the golden age of exploration is far behind us. Editor Jeff Wilser’s The Explorers Club: A Visual Journey Through the Past, Present, and Future of Exploration proves otherwise, revealing that we are in a tremendously exciting new era of discovery. The titular club is an actual New York City-based organization that defines exploration as “curiosity acted upon.” Among its 3,400-strong ranks are some of the world’s most intrepid and determined individuals, and Wilser offers a visually stunning front-row seat to club members’ game-changing explorations past and present. There’s storyteller Asha Stuart, looking at how the Himba people of Namibia are being affected by climate change, and Justin Dunnavant, who dives to explore sunken slave ships. Marine biologist Margaret O’Leary Amsler has revealed secrets of Antarctic krill, and astronaut Ed Lu deflects potentially dangerous asteroids. Today’s explorers both build and provide a needed corrective to the work of those who came before: Their missions ward off environmental devastation, increase conservation and alter perspectives for the better. Armchair explorers, or anyone with a curious mind, will be sucked right into the incredible stories gathered here.
Valiant Women is a vital and engrossing attempt to correct the record and rightfully celebrate the achievements of female veterans of World War II.
