Frank Hurley

The extraordinary life of the daring adventurer who defied ice and fire - war photographer, Antarctic explorer and adventurer - by Australia's No.1 bestselling historical biographer, featuring a foreword by Hurley's granddaughter

From the moment he ran away from school at just 13, Frank Hurley carved a path as one of the greatest adventurers of all time.

A visionary photographer and film-maker, Hurley journeyed to the farthest corners of the earth, capturing images of people and places few had ever seen. Time and again he risked his life, in both peace and war, to take pictures that would astonish the world.

Claiming to have travelled a million miles in his lifetime, Hurley traversed every continent. He made four perilous expeditions to Antarctica, sharing a hut with Douglas Mawson and a tent with Ernest Shackleton. He drove across Australia with Francis Birtles in 1914 and, five years later, flew with Ross and Keith Smith on part of the first-ever flight from England to Australia. He ventured deep into the uncharted jungles of New Guinea and Java, where few Europeans had dared to tread.

Hurley stood on the front lines of history, capturing some of the most dramatic footage of the First and Second World Wars. He survived a plane crash in Athens during a world-record flight attempt, was shot at by Germans, and was once rescued from the belly of a dead whale.

A master storyteller, Hurley penned bestselling books about his adventures and dazzled audiences with photographic exhibitions and film screenings. As a cinematographer, he helped create some of Australia's most iconic early action films, including the documentary Home of the Blizzard, and the epic Forty Thousand Horsemen.

Frank Hurley didn't just document history - he lived it and immortalised it - and this brilliant biography by Australia's bestselling historian vividly captures the extraordinary life of the world's most daring pioneer, and includes a foreword by Hurley's granddaughter, Toni Hurley.