Books by Nick Middleton

'A brilliant read... that illustrated the strong will and determination of man in the face of everything that nature had to throw at us' WanderlustNick Middleton, the intrepid Oxford don, explorer and author of Going to Extremes is back, and he's set himself a challenge to cope with the worst that nature can throw at him in Surviving Extremes. Travelling to four of the most extreme natural environments: swamps, deserts, jungles and arctic wastelands, the question is, can he pick up enough tips from the indigenous people to hack it at the very edge of human existence, or will his mid latitude sensibilities forever let him down? This is Nick's account of how he had to put his body and mind to the test in a unique survival experiment.

In Going to Extremes writer, presenter and Oxford geography don Nick Middleton visits Oymyakon in Siberia, where the average winter temperature is -47 degrees and 40% of the population have lost their fingers to frostbite while changing the car wheel. Next he travels to Arica Chile where there have been fourteen consecutive years without a drop of rain and so fog is people's only source of water. Going from the driest to the wettest, he visits Mawsynram in India which annually competes for the title with its neighbour Cherrapunji. However, Nick discovers even here, that during the dry season, there is water shortage and one entrepreneur has started selling it bottled.Finally his journey takes him to Dalol in Ethiopia known as the 'hell hole of creation' where the temperature remains at 94 degrees year round. Here Nick will join miners who work all day with no shade, limited water and no protective clothing.The book and series consider how and why people lives in these harsh environments. How does Nick's body react to these contrasting extremes? He looks at the geographical and meteorological conditions. He meets local characters and discovers the history of these settlements to find out how they ever became populated. He looks at the way both the population, and the flora and fauna, have adapted physically to the climate, and also considers the psychological impact of living under such conditions.

It is 1921, and post-revolutionary Russia is being torn apart by civil war. Out of the wreckage rises a crazy, eagle-eyed Baron, who plans to conquer the largest empire the world has ever known... When he fails to get his hands on Russia, the Bloody Baron, Baron von Ungern-Sternberg, sets his sights on Mongolia... Ages 10+.