The Greatest Survival Stories Ever Told - Twenty-seven Incredible True Tales (Hardcover)

Many survival adventures begin with the suddenness and randomness of a bolt of lightning - a storm descends, a boat overturns, a plane crashes, a ferocious animal attacks out of nowhere, a wilderness traveler becomes lost. Others, such as the adventures of intrepid explorers, emerge from man's inner desire to test the limits of human endurance, to challenge himself, and thereby etch himself a place in history. These are times, as Thomas Paine wrote, "that try men's souls" - times when the courage of a man is truly measured, where heroes are born, and where we learn, finally, that it is indeed only the strong who survive. Contributions include some well-known works from renowned writers of the genre such as Stephen Crane, Jack London, and Farley Mowat, as well as some rare, lesser-known gems from Slavomir Rawicz, Maurice Herzog, and Jon Krakauer. The seventeen stories in this fascinating collection will lead you from high in the Andes Mountains to the South Pole, across the arid Gobi desert and through the dense jungles of South Pacific islands, illustrating in vivid detail - through true and fictional tales - the harsh conditions and seemingly unbearable predicaments that serve to prove themselves the ultimate tests of human endurance, fortitude, and bravery. (61/4 X 91/4, 340 pages)