Many adventures begin when a storm descends, a boat overturns, a plane crashes, a grizzly attacks out of nowhere, or a wilderness traveller becomes lost. From the tropics to the Arctic Poles, here are 27 epic tales of survival and adventure, both fact and realistic fiction.

This collection of classic tales comprises over thirty accounts of true-life adventure taken from contemporary memoirs, letters, and journals. They span the years from 1800 to the end of the twentieth century, in a period which can be termed the modern age of exploration. Among the writers are: Ernest Shackleton Douglas Mawson Salomon Andrée Sebastian Snow Ed Drummond Edmund Hillary Maurice Herzog Lewis and Clark Thor Heyerdahl Theodore Roosevelt Jacques Cousteau Sven Hedin Norbert Casteret Jim Corbett Charles A. Lindbergh The Best Survival Stories Ever Told recounts stories of ordinary mortals who achieved extraordinary things. Spanning the ice-locked Poles and the endless deserts of Arabia to the storm-tossed South Atlantic, the rain forests of the Amazon, and sheer peaks of the Himalayas, it charts the dangerous relationship between men and nature.

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer's—in guilt-ridden disarray. "A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism." —PEOPLE A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself. This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy. "I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day," writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. "What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients." As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer recounts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I. In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters--a prestigious prize intended "to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment." According to the Academy's citation, "Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind."

This collection of survival stories recounts the harrowing true experiences of people across the globe who faced certain death—and survived. The stories in this riveting volume seem too unbelievable to be true. Lost individuals facing the most severe natural disasters, the most dangerous situations, and the most inhospitable conditions . . . somehow making it out alive. From plane crashes and sinking ships to surviving in freezing forests and scorching deserts, this anthology includes some of the most famous, unbelievable tales of beating the odds. This book features gripping tales of sheer bravery and quick thinking, including: Juliane Koepcke, the sole survivor of a plane crash in the Peruvian Amazon Jose Salvador Alvarenga, who floated for thirteen months alone in the Pacific ocean Aron Ralston, who cut off his arm to escape the canyon he’d been trapped in Lincoln Hall, who was abandoned on Mount Everest . . . and many more.

"I don't regard nature as a spectator sport." -Ed Zern, 1985 Hunting is a serious business-but it's also about camaraderie, achievements and failures, seeing new places, and revisiting cherished ones. The true stories here feature a variety of game, in locations that range from high Yukon Territory mountain peaks to lowland swamps off of Mobile Bay, Alabama. This is an indispensable volume for all lovers and students of the natural world. If your definition of home includes fields and marshes, creeks and river bottoms, plains and mountains, consider this required reading.

Read the “grim and inspiring” Arctic survival story of the legendary explorer who completed one of the most harrowing journeys in Antarctica’s history (Wall Street Journal). For weeks in Antarctica, Douglas Mawson faced some of the most daunting conditions ever known to man: blistering wind, snow, and cold; the loss of his companion, dogs, supplies, and even the skin on his hands and feet. But despite constant thirst, starvation, disease, and snow blindness—he survived. Sir Douglas Mawson is remembered as the young Australian who would not go to the South Pole with Robert Scott in 1911. Instead, he chose to lead his own expedition on the less glamorous mission of charting nearly 1,500 miles of Antarctic coastline and claiming its resources for the British Crown. His party of three set out through the mountains across glaciers in 60-mile-per-hour winds. Six weeks and 320 miles out, one man fell into a crevasse—along with the tent, most of the equipment, the dogs’ food, and all except a week’s supply of the men's provisions. Mawson's Will is the unforgettable story of one man’s ingenious practicality, unbreakable spirit, and how he continued his meticulous scientific observations even in the face of death. When the expedition was over, Mawson had added more territory to the Antarctic map than anyone else of his time. Thanks to Bickel’s moving account, Mawson can be remembered for the vision and dedication that make him one of the world’s great explorers.

An edge-of-your-seat collection of the best in adventure writing.