The first of many journeys around the world opens up a whole new horizon for young medical student Max Magi. His travels will take him to the far corners of the world, destroying his certainties, yet bringing new strength to his deeply rooted values.The very first voyage, to far away Madagascar, sets the foundation for the man that he will become thanks to his close contact with the first inspirational mentors on the medical staff in Antananarivo and the suffering of the patients. I...

"This is a personal, urgent, and universal book." —Gloria SteinemSituated more than one hundred miles off Italy’s southern coast, the rocky island of Lampedusa has hit world headlines in recent years as the first port of call for hundreds of thousands of African and Middle Eastern refugees fleeing civil war and terrorism and hoping to make a new life in Europe. Dr. Pietro Bartolo, who runs the lone medical clinic on the island, has been caring for many of them—both...

Around the world by ambulance.Paramédico is a brilliant collection of adventures by Australian paramedic Benjamin Gilmour as he works and volunteers on ambulances around the world. From England to Mexico, and Iceland to Pakistan, Gilmour takes us on an extraordinary thrill-ride with his wild coworkers. Along the way he learns a few things, too, and shows us not only how precious life truly is, but how to passionately embrace it.

'Life is not defined by the bad things that happen to us. It certainly isn't for me.'Written for her young son so that he would know what had happened to his mother, Cynthia Banham's inspiring family memoir uncovers a true picture of what survival means:'This book tells a story that I tried to write many times before, but couldn't. For a long time, it was too painful to tell. It is also one I hadn't known how to tell. It had to be more than a story about surviv...

11 July, 1897. Three men set out in a hydrogen balloon bound for the North Pole. They never return. Two days into their journey they make a crash landing then disappear into a white nightmare.33 years later. The men's bodies are found, perfectly preserved under the snow and ice. They had enough food, clothing and ammunition to survive. Why did they die?66 years later. Bea Uusma is at a party. Bored, she pulls a books off the shelf. It is about the expedition. For the next f...

Here's a book about Rome that's seriously streetwise. Lonely Planet Kids' City Trails: Rome features colourful themed trails, from history and culture to food and nature, that reveal amazing facts and intriguing tales that kids won't find on the tourist routes or inside the average guidebook. We'll show them where to find Rome's belly button, read a poem to chocolate, snack on witch sweets, and lots more!Join Lonely Planet explorers Marco and Amelia as the...

  Our illustrated travel guide will take you to Pompeii, Italy. Pompeii is in Campania, Italy, not far from Naples. Its major attraction is the ruined ancient Roman city of the same name, which was engulfed by Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Romans took control of Pompeii around 200 BC. On August 24, 79 AD, Vesuvius erupted, burying the nearby town of Pompeii in ash and soot, killing 20,000 people, an...

“A lyrical, inspirational and altogether rewarding account of first- and third-world surgeons working together to perform neurosurgery miracles in the heart of Africa.” —Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest GenerationDr. Dilan Ellegala arrives in Tanzania, shocked to find the entire country has just three brain surgeons for its population of forty-two million. Haydom Lutheran Hospital lacks even the most basic surgical tools, not even a saw to open a patient...

"[McCormick has] been face-to-face with Ebola in Africa.... He... worked for days inside a mud hut that was smeared with Ebola blood, on his knees among people who were crashing and bleeding out." —Richard Preston, The Hot Zone Now with a new foreword by the authors about the novel Coronavirus pandemic. Sublimely equipped to survive, to propagate, to conquer, the virus is neither really alive nor really dead. Its dimensions are measured in molecules. It attacks by dismantling its human tar...

Learn Italian, pick up vocabulary and practice new words you won't forget.An enigmatic bon vivant makes a surprise visit to an old teacher who is now rich and powerful, but feels terribly lonely inside his own family. The mood is chaotic and everyone has an identity problem. "You came, you seduced every single one of us, and you destroyed everything."Who is this woman and what is she up to?Accelerated Learning: English/Italian - The Ducati Girl - Family Affair - Enha...

“An exemplary literary rebel.” —Sarah Kerr, The New York Review of Books“[Bolaño] demonstrates . . . what is possible in fiction—which is to say, anything.” —William Deresiewicz, The New RepublicNow I’m a mother and a married woman, but not long ago I led a life of crime. So begins the story of Bianca, whom a car crash has overnight left an orphan and, only a teenager herself, a caregiver to her younger brother. A...

In this "vividly compelling" New York Times Notable Book, a surgeon recounts his experiences in war zones ( The Washington Post).From treating the casualties of apartheid in Cape Town to operating on Kurdish guerrillas in Northern Iraq at the end of the Gulf War, Jonathan Kaplan has saved (and lost) lives in the remotest corners of the world in the most extreme conditions. He has been a hospital surgeon, a ship's physician, an air-ambulance doctor, and a t...