The Kon-Tiki Man: Thor Heyerdahl Ralling, Christopher and Heyerdahl, Thor

In 1947, a Norwegian anthropologist lashed together a balsa wood raft and sailed 4,300 miles across the Pacific to prove ancient peoples could have migrated from South America to Polynesia. Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki expedition became one of the 20th century's most audacious acts of experimental archaeology — equal parts scientific inquiry and kamikaze adventure. This BBC biography chronicles Heyerdahl's life: the obsessions that drove him, the expeditions that defined him (including Ra and Ra II across the Atlantic), and the controversies his theories sparked in academic circles. Christopher Ralling captures a man who chose action over peer review, who turned hypotheses into voyages and nearly drowned trying to rewrite prehistory. For readers fascinated by exploration, unconventional thinkers, and the intersection of science and sheer nerve.