"This is the inspiring story of an ordinary guy who achieved two great goals that others had told him were impossible - first by setting a record for the longest automobile journey ever made around the world -- in the course of which he blasted his way out of minefields, survived a breakdown atop the Peak of Death, came within seconds of being lynched in Pakistan, and lost three of the five men who started with him, two to disease, one to the Vietcong. After that - although it took him 47 more years - Albert Podell set another record by going to every country on Earth. He achieved this by surviving riots, revolutions, civil wars, trigger-happy child soldiers, voodoo priests, robbers, pickpockets, corrupt cops, and Cape buffalo. He went around, under, or through every kind of earthquake, cyclone, tsunami, volcanic eruption, snowstorm, and sandstorm that Nature threw at him. He ate everything from old camel meat and rats to dung beetle and the brain of a live monkey. And he overcame attacks by crocodiles, hippos, anacondas, giant leeches, flying crabs -- and several beautiful girlfriends who insisted that he stop this nonsense and marry them. Albert Podell's Around the World in 50 Years is a remarkable and meaningful tale of quiet courage, dogged persistence, undying determination, and an uncanny ability to extricate himself from one perilous situation after another - and return with some of the most memorable, frightening, and hilarious adventure stories you have ever read"-- Provided by publisher.

"In 2003, Albert Podell realized that he'd been to 110 countries in the world. What if, he wondered, he could go to them all? He would set foot in not just the well-known tourist destinations in Europe or the vacation spots in Latin America, but the little-known, far-off lands that most people don't know exist. In Around the World in 50 Years, Podell recounts the misunderstandings, detours, accidents, breakdowns, robberies, and even wars that he needed to overcome to visit every corner of Earth. He describes his encounters with voodoo rituals, fruit-bat pie, the Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon, Cuban counterintelligence agents, the New Guinea wigmen, camel caravans, the Lord's Resistance Army, and much, much more. With a wry, exuberant style, Podell's observations on the unusual and exotic places that lay beyond the usual tourist trails make this book a standout on the travel writing shelf"-- Provided by publisher.