About the Author

A former member of the SAS, Sir Ranulph Fiennes was the first man to reach both poles on land.In the 1960s he was, according to a BBC article, "kicked out of the SAS for deliberately blowing up a Twentieth Century Fox film-set in Castle Coombe, Wiltshire." The Guinness Book of World Records describes Fiennes as the world's greatest living explorer. He is the only person yet to have been awarded two clasps to the polar medal for both Antarctic and Arctic regions. Fiennes has led over 30 expeditions including the first polar circumnavigation of the Earth and the first unsupported crossing of the Antarctic continent. In 1993 Queen Elizabeth awarded Fiennes with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for "human endeavour and charitable services," because, on the way to breaking records, he has raised over 5 million for charity.