Adventurers, Explorers & Survival

In 1528, a mission set out from Spain to colonize Florida. But the expedition went horribly wrong. Of the 300 men who had embarked on the journey, only four survived....

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood....

We value individuality and self-reliance, yet are utterly dependent on community for our most basic needs. In this intricately crafted and thought-provoking book, Sebastian Junger examines the tension that lies at the heart of what it means to be human....

Captain James Cook was one of Britain’s foremost naval explorers. Cook made three voyages to the islands of the Pacific, where he was the first recorded European to make contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands....

Into Thin Air is the definitive, personal account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest...

The River of Doubt brings alive extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived....

In the predawn hours of July 10, 2014, 27-year-old Cody Roman Dial, the son of preeminent Alaskan scientist and National Geographic Explorer Roman Dial, walked alone into Corcovado National Park, an untracked rainforest along Costa Rica’s remote Pacific Coast....

Meriwether Lewis and his partner, William Clark, endured incredible hardships and witnessed astounding sights on their 1803 cross-country trip to unexplored West....

438 Days is the miraculous account of the man who survived alone and adrift at sea longer than anyone in recorded history....

In 1864, Captain Thomas Musgrave and his crew of four aboard the schooner Grafton wreck on the southern end of Auckland Island....

From one of Outside magazine's "Literary All-Stars" comes the thrilling true tale of the fastest boat ride ever, down the entire length of the Colorado River....

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. His restless life was packed with adventure and discovery....

The Irish-American story, with all its twists and triumphs, is told through the improbable life of one man....

In 2017, world-class ultrarunner Hillary Allen was at the top of her sport - and it felt like she was running on top of the world as she competed in Norway's Tromsø Skyrace. Allen was nearly halfway through the 50-kilometer race when she fell 150 feet off an exposed ridge....

Robert Morgan's Gap Creek was an Oprah's Book Club selection and a phenomenal New York Times best-seller. Here he turns his talent to chronicling the life of Daniel Boone....

Captain Meriwether Lewis was hand-picked by President Thomas Jefferson to explore and acquire the American West...

From prominent outdoorsman and nature writer Mark Kenyon comes an engrossing reflection on the past and future battles over our most revered landscapes - America’s public lands....

In Dreams of El Dorado, H. W. Brands tells the thrilling, panoramic story of the settling of the American West.... 

The Curse of Oak Island is a fascinating account of the strange, rich history of the island and the intrepid treasure hunters who have driven themselves to financial ruin, psychotic breakdowns, and even death in pursuit of answers....

In 1839 rumors of extraordinary yet baffling stone ruins buried within the unmapped jungles of Central America reached two of the world's most intrepid travelers....

Only four men survived the plane crash. The pilot. A politician. A cop... and the criminal he was shackled to....

Hailed as a masterpiece of American travel writing, Blue Highways is an unforgettable journey along our nation's backroads....

On January 14, 2015, Tommy Caldwell, along with his partner, Kevin Jorgeson, summited what is regarded as the hardest climb in history - Yosemite's nearly vertical 3,000-foot Dawn Wall....

Ross Edgley famously ran a marathon pulling a 1.4-tonne car and climbed a rope the height of Everest (8,848 m), after living with Yamabushi warrior monks in Japan and partaking in Shamanic pain rituals with fire ants in the Amazon jungle....

In this vivid history, Jo Ann Trogdon reveals William Clark’s highly questionable activities during the years before his famous journey west of the Mississippi. Delving into the details of Clark’s diary and ledger entries, Trogdon investigates....

Veteran sailor Christian Williams invites us along on a 5,000-mile voyage of discovery around the North Pacific. Funny, erudite, and at times deeply personal, Philosophy of Sailing explores who we are and how encounters with the unknown can be a path to revelation and joy....

Jackson is aggressive, confrontational and often volatile. His mother, Kayla, is crippled with grief after tragically losing her husband and eldest son....

This is the true story of a 24-hour period on the Everest when members of three separate expeditions were caught in a storm and faced a battle against hurricane-force winds, exposure, and the effects of altitude, which ended the worst single-season death toll in the peak's history....

In this grand and thrilling narrative, the acclaimed biographer of Magellan, Columbus, and Marco Polo brings alive the singular life and adventures of Sir Francis Drake, the pirate/explorer/admiral whose mastery of the seas during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I changed....

How did an obscure science fiction writer become one of the world's most notorious religious leaders? Find out....

In this vivid history, Jo Ann Trogdon reveals William Clark’s highly questionable activities during the years before his famous journey west of the Mississippi. Delving into the details of Clark’s diary and ledger entries, Trogdon investigates evidence linking Clark to a series of plots - often called the Spanish Conspiracy - in which corrupt officials sought to line their pockets with Spanish money and to separate Kentucky from the United States. The Unknown Travels and Dubious Pursuits of William Clark gives listeners a more complex portrait of the American icon.

Making It is an inspirational memoir about beating the odds and turning things around even when it all seems hopeless. In this book, Jay shares the details of his life, from his childhood growing up sheltered and innocent on a council estate in Hackney, to his adolescence when he was introduced to violent racism at secondary school, to being brutalised by police as a teen, to finally becoming a beloved star of the hit prime-time show The Repair Shop.... 

After passing the world's toughest Special Forces selection to get into D Squadron, 22 SAS, in 1979, Mark 'Splash' Aston thought he'd missed out on all the action. Too late to fight with the SAS in a decade long secret war in Oman, when terrorists then seized the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980 Splash missed out again when responsibility for the counter-terror role was passed to their comrades in B Squadron just weeks earlier. Then on April 2nd 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.

SAS trooper and trainee pilot Jamie Hull was flying solo when his aircraft caught fire. It should have been the end of his life, but it was the beginning of his story. With flames up to his chin, he brought the plane in, climbed out and jumped from the wing. As he lay on the ground, fully conscious, waiting for the emergency services, he could smell his flesh burn. Even if he survived, what would he have left to live for? But this man is made of stern stuff. He fought back from the brink of death and created a new and profoundly meaningful life from the wreckage of his experience.

In March 2020, Kate Garraway's husband, Derek Draper, contracted COVID-19 and was placed in a medically induced coma. Initially, Kate was told that he would not survive. Still in hospital and in a critical condition, he is thought to be the UK's longest-fighting COVID-19 patient. In this intimate book, Kate shares her deeply personal story.

The legendary explorer of the Titanic shares inside stories of danger, suspense, and discovery - plus previously untold stories about his own dyslexia and how it has shaped his life. 

An intimate true account of Americans at war, Days of Steel Rain is an epic drama about an unlikely group of men forced to work together in the face of an increasingly desperate enemy during the final year of World War II.

Amelia Earhart’s autobiographical book The Fun of It: Random Records of My Own Flying and of Women in Aviation covers Earhart’s life through May 20-21, 1932, “when Miss Earhart, alone in a Lockheed Vega monoplane with a single Wasp engine, negotiated 2,026 miles through storm and fog from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, to a cow pasture on the outskirts of Londonderry, Ireland. The flight set a transatlantic record of 14 hours, 56 minutes...and stirred such public adulation that she confided, ‘I’ll be glad when the zoo part is over.’” (ANB) 

In his second memoir, a true crime story, David Alan Arnold takes us on a life and death adventure in his helicopter as an aerial cameraman for Ice Road Truckers and Deadliest Catch. He also gets into adventures at home, when he picks a fight with an organized crime ring that took over a school bus stop. David's town has so few residents that good people are afraid to speak about the crimes, for fear of reprisal. 

I grew up in "socialism" where the regime kept everything and allowed the nation just enough to survive. True, no one died of hunger and all had roof over their heads - plus, education and healthcare were free - but cars, plane tickets, and all other luxuries were absolutely not affordable - unless you worked for the government (which meant you had to be a trusted "comrade"). Prices and wages were controlled by the government, and you were lucky if you could save enough to buy a new shirt or a pair of shoes every year.  

This remarkable book, originally published in the 19th century, contains extended selections from the original writings and journals of those remarkable men who traveled across the globe and forever changed our understanding of the world. 

In the summer of 1978, 21-year-old Paul Wilson jumps at the chance to join two local icons on a dream surf trip to mainland Mexico, unaware their ultimate destination lies in the heart of drug cartel country. Having no earthly idea of where he’ll get the money to pay his share, and determined to prove his mettle, he does the only thing he can think of.