The Kon-Tiki Expedition

First published in 1948, this narrative recounts Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 voyage from Peru to Polynesia on a balsa raft built after ancient South American models. Heyerdahl and five companions sail the Kon-Tiki westward on the Humboldt Current to test his claim that pre-Columbian people could have reached the Pacific islands. The book follows construction at Callao, storms, sharks, and the daily work of navigation and fishing, then the wreck on a Raroia reef after 101 days. It is a first-person expedition account and argument about migration, not a general history of Polynesia.

Bound in off-white canvas with the Kon-Tiki emblem in brown and dark brown on cover. 16 pages of monochrome photographs. Map endleaves printed brown on cream. Dark brown slipcase with the Kon-Tiki emblem in gold on front.