"The voyage of Kon-Tiki just two decades ago was one of the great true adventures of our century. For its daring leader, Thor Heyderahl, this expedition was the turning point of a life already crowded with excitement. Now, overnight, he was an international celebrity-- but a man half-obscured by the shadow of his own achievement. Millions new his name, but few knew the man behind the voyage. In this definitive biography, Arnold Jacoby focuses on that man. He tells of Heyerdahl's boyhood youth, of the experimental year when he and his bride returned to nature on a remote Pacific island to see if modern man was better off than primitive man, and of his wartime experiences in the Free Norwegian Army. One theme recurs throughout those years: Heyerdahl's growing conviction that accepted scientific opinion about the origins of the South Sea islanders was incorrect. But his own theories brought only scorn from the scientific community-- until he set out to prove himself right in the only way possible, by recreating the Pacific voyage he knew must once have take place. The Kon-Tiki and subsequent expeditions to Easter Island and the Galapagos won Heyerdahl renown and, perhaps more importantly, scientific respect. The behind-the-scenese stories of these achievements and thier aftermath, are all part of this fascinating book."--inside jacket.
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