Wilderness Under The Earth

London: Scientific Book Club. Very Good/Good. 1958. First UK Edition. Hard Cover. 8vo Dust jacket chipped, small tears, unclipped, now in clear protective sleeve. Green cloth black titling. Browning strip to ffep. No ownership marks. Unexplored regions of the earth will always attract the adventurous, for they appeal to man's desire for new experiences and discoveries, and satisfy his urge to test his courage, his strength and his will-power, by their very nature, in obscure places, but near at hand are the great caves of Europe-many still undiscovered, others only partially explored. Dr. Herbert Franke, one of the leading amateur speleologists in Europe, has explored over a hundred caves, many of them renowned for their dangerous character. In this stimulating book, Dr. Franke tells of his experiences in such caves as the potholes of Totes Gebirge, in search of a skier who fell to his death; the fabulous Tantalhohle, which was discovered in 1948 and is now considered to be the most difficult in the whole of Europe; Holloch in Switzerland, known as one of the largest caves in the world-a seemingly endless labyrinth of galleries and tight-crawls of which today only thirty-four miles have been explored; Geldloch, the eighth deepest cave in the world, the great ice cave of Dachstein which contains scenery of incredible beauty; and caves in Yugoslavia and France. .