National Geographic 125 Years: Legendary Photographs, Adventures, and Discoveries That Changed the World

While most people who have spent hours leisurely going through their grandparents collection of old copies of National Geographic Magazine may not have realized it, they were enjoying some of the most important historical adaptations of photography, photojournalism and magazine reproduction. And while this book about the first 125 years of National Geographic may not have the most spectacular and beautiful photographs that have appeared in the journal over its first century and a quarter, it has a bunch of them. It also has a selection of many of the trail breaking examples of photographs to appear in magazine format. The purpose of the National Geographic Society was to disperse Geographic Information to the world. The National Geographic Magazine is technically the Society's Journal. It was Gilbert H. Grosvenor who "built the National Geographic Society into an extraordinarily successful institution. And he did so by emphasizing too things. One, he made pictures the language of the National Geographic magazine...And two, he stressed quality." The magazine editor wanted to see pictures and plenty of them. Within this book the reader will see pictures of the photographers at work with the latest cameras of the period, including the digital cameras they mostly use today. There is a 1909 photo of photographer O.D. Von Engeh during a Society Sponsored-expedition to Alaska. He is washing his freshly developed film negatives in the iceberg-choked seawater of the bay. On page 77, there is a wonderful 1910 hand colored black and white photo of a young, would-be rock star Japanese girl in traditional dress singing at the top of her lungs and playing a three-stringed samisen. The picture looks like it could have been taken yesterday as far as typifying a young musician's dream. Those images and the Autochrome (self-coloring) ones began appearing in National Geographic in July 1914. The era of color magazine photography had arrived. The paper that National Geographic is printed on is guaranteed to last for at least 200 years. How's that for quality printing? This is a fascinating book about how the National Geographic Society and its Journal and other publications came about. It's a fun read and illustrated history of history. While this joke isn't included in this book, in the 1950s and 1960s there was a joke about the photographers of LIFE Magazine and the National Geographic. The Geographic photographer would climb to the top of a pile of trash and garbage in order to take his beautiful color photos from the higher perch. The LIFE photographer would stand back and photograph the garbage. This book deals with the beautiful pictures and people of the planet, and it's only recently that Geographic has been photographing pollution and trash and even then the pictures are often beautiful.

The copy I bought used arrived in good condition aside from a cut across the dust jacket. But the content of the book itself is too enjoyable to remove even half a star for something so minor. A detailed history of the Society and its explorers (even the more minor ones get their due), beautifully illustrated with photos and graphics, offering a look at how the magazine and society have changed over the past century-plus. To longtime subscribers (and/or younger geo-nerds like myself who've inherited older issues from relatives), it's fun to read through all of the highlights of those past decades, blow-by-blow, and try to guess which milestone is next. An excellent book and a worthy successor to C.D.B. Bryan's centennial history of the Society. On to 150!

Good

My sister recomnmended I get this for my 16-year-old history and adventure-loving nephew for Christmas. I did and he loved it. It's packed with so many fantastic pictures and exciting stories that he will be reading it for many more months to come. I would definitely recommend this to a firiend.

The book itself is great. I docked one star for the physical quality of product upon arrival. The dust cover was bent in various places along with unidentified smears on both the front and back. As it was a Christmas gift, and I'm a bit of a perfectionist, I was a bit ashamed to present it ...

I bought two magazine with different covers for this magazine

This is a stunning book. I purchased it as a gift and the receiver loved it. Its the perfect coffee table book which captures and holds the attention of adults and children alike and begins many a conversation upon seeing a particular iconic photo "I remember where i was when..........."

As a casual reader of National Geographic (in the waiting room of my chiro each month) I saw this advertised in one of the issues. This is a great collection of iconic photos and stories from throughout the 125 year history of this publication and a perfect coffee table book.

Eine tolle Zeit - Reise durch das vergangene Jahrhundert, wunderschön illustriert und mit außergewöhnlichen Beschreibungen der Bilder orte und Personen

その瞬間でしか記録できない写真の数々は、(私も含め)後世の人々にさまざまなメッセージを伝達できる。 それが当初の撮影者の意図かどうかは別として、一枚の写真を読み取ることは文字で書かれた文章を読み取ること以上に直裁的に語りかけてくれる。 写真を読み取るにはそれなりの力量を見る方に要求する。

Livro muito bonito, com fotos excelentes.

This is an absolutely brilliant book. I bought it for my grandparents who have subscribed to national geographic in the past and have a general interest in geography, history and nature and after receiving it they sat and read it for almost an hour. Firstly, it looks great. I'm not sure the gold detailing on the cover comes across as well on the photos, but it's very impressive to hold. Inside, the pages are clearly laid out with a great mix of photographs and text. My impressions of the descriptions of the photos and the general text in the book are that the authors found a great balance between enough text to be interesting, without the temptation to skip the text and flick through the pictures. Secondly, at the price and with prime delivery, this is excellent value. I'm very tempted to buy another for myself, and I may well do later in the year when it would be more appropriate having just gifted it. I highly recommend this book to anyone reading this review, since the fact you are at least considering it means you likely have an interest in history, geography or photography and I believe that this will not disappoint anyone who enjoys these subjects.

I gave this as a gift to my Father on his 75th Birthday. He loves it and is enjoying the pictures and stories. Thank You National Geographic. My Father and Family have been a fan of this Magazine for many years. Thank You Amazon for giving me the opportunity to send it to my Father who is many miles away from where I live. It arrived in perfect timing for his Birthday. Regards, Margaret Tune