2003, Speleo Projects, Format 17 x 25cm, hardbound
English, with numerous illustrations
352 Pages, 64 colour, with 31 maps
ISBN 3-908495-11-3
Nonfiction / History
CHF 64.–; € 42.00
Order from Speleo Projects
Also available in:
- Australia and New Zealand from Macstyle Media
- the United Kingdom from Cordee
- the U.S. from Speleobooks

Introducing Howard Beck’s historical account of adventure and exploration in one of the world’s last remaining wild places: the primordial jungles of Papua New Guinea and the strange realm of the caverns that lay hidden beneath them.

“Since 1965, over 30 international caving expeditions have been fielded throughout New Guinea...
The story unfolds like a drama, a compelling narrative of survival both above and below ground. The fortunes of its principal characters – the speleologists, their native guides and porters, and the pilots who risked their necks in the cloud-shrouded mountains – are punctuated with a bittersweet mixture of success, disappointment, elation and disaster at the frontier of the known world.”
– Howard M. Beck

L’histoire des explorations spéléologiques en Papuaisie Nouvelle Guinée depuis le milieu du siècle dernier, comprennant plus de 30 expéditions internationales. Un voyage inédit sous les forêts mysterieuses d’un pays fascinant.

Ein geschichtlicher Überblick über die speläologische Erforschung von Papua Neu Guinea, einer der letzten wilden, unerforschten Flecken Erde. In einem unwegsamen Karst, bedeckt von einem dichten Urwald, liegen geheimnisvolle Höhlen verborgen. Seit 1965 habe über 30 internationale Höhlen-Expeditionen den unbkannten Untergrund über ganz Papua Neu Guinea erforscht.

What are they saying about Beneath the Cloud Forests?

“… the end result is a great book. This should stand the test of time as one of the classics of caving literature. The wealth of information and the hundreds of photos make it a very good value. Every caver (and many an adventurer or serious traveler) will want his own copy, and will gain a lot of both enjoyment and inspiration through reading it.” Full review here.

Tony Waltham
SPELEOLOGY, September 2003
Bulletin of the British Cave Research Association

“Pick up Howard Beck's book – that's the Howard Beck who wrote Gaping Gill. 150 years of Exploration – and the sheer quality of it will impress you. The paper quality, the print quality, the reproduction… This is a fine volume indeed, as is to be expected from its publisher, Speleo Projects, let alone Howard as an experienced researcher and author.

No doubt you will flick through the photographs, spotting the extensive colour spreads in eight groups, and perhaps begin to read. That's it; if you have any interest in the lure of the unknown and expedition caving at the extreme margins where any error is a serious one, you're hooked…” Full review here

Chris Howes
Descent (174), Oct/Nov 2003