The enduring story of how, in 1947, Thor Heyerdahl and five companions crossed the Pacific Ocean on a balsa-wood raft in an extraordinary bid to prove Heyerdahl’s theory that the Polynesians undertook the same feat on similar craft over a thousand years ago.

“A party of men who were to put to sea together on board a raft must be chosen with care.”

Thor Heyerdahl “The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas”. First published in Norwegian in 1948. This English edition was published by Flamingo in 1996 (with an epilogue by Thor Heyerdahl written that same year). Translated by F. H. Lyon. Donated to the library by Malcolm Carey from Cornwall, UK ❤️

Photos by Anna Iltnere / Sea Library