Outlandish Approaches

Hannibal Barca, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Ernest Shackleton: three men who dreamed of glory and would stop at nothing to achieve it. Their ambition drove them huge distances through hostile territory.

In the end, their reach exceeded their grasp, and all three men ultimately failed in their quests. Yet their names are still remembered, whether with admiration, respect, or bafflement.

What kind of person decides to spend months stuck in polar ice, or cross the Alps with elephants, or invade Russia in the dead of winter? For revenge, for conquest, for fame?

And…was it worth it?

This collection of essays documents each man’s campaign and speculates on what motivated them all. A thoroughly researched and approachable take, by turns knowledgeable and humourous, author Dan White takes the reader on a journey through history and around the globe in search of understanding the difference—if there is one—between genius and madness.