AbeBooks: Survival Stories

The thrill of scaling the biggest mountain, sailing single-handedly around the world or exploring the deepest, most uninhabitable jungles is addictive to some. For the rest of us, the appeal lies in staying safely at home and reading a great book about unbelievable feats.

It's hard to say which account is most remarkable. Is it the tale of the woman who went hiking in the mountains, fell off a cliff and broke both legs but survived by dragging herself to safety for four days with only her hands? Or is it the story about the young girl who witnessed the murder of her family while on a sailboat and jumped overboard to escape and survived four days bobbing in the ocean? It's fair to say that each one of these survival books will amaze you from start to finish.

A word of warning to the faint of heart: the following list of books will increase your blood pressure, make you sit on the edge of your seat, gasp in horror and amazement, and ultimately cheer for the resilient nature of the human being.

Lost

Lost in the Jungle
Yossi Ghinsberg

Stranded for weeks in the Amazon without a knife, map or survival training and lived on wild fruit to survive.

Skeletons on the Zahara
Dean King

Shipwrecked off the coast of Africa in 1815, captured by nomads, sold into slavery and forced to walk the desert.

As Far as my Feet Will Carry Me
Josef M. Bauer

Sentenced to 25 years of labor in a Siberian lead mine, Forell escapes and travels 8,000 miles in barren, frozen wilderness.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Aron Ralston

Ralston gets wedged between a boulder and a canyon wall with little water or food and commits an extreme act to save himself.

Angels in the Wilderness
Amy Racina

Lost in the Sierra mountains, Racina falls 60 feet, breaks both legs and pulls herself to safety with her hands.

Adrift

Alone: Orphaned in the Ocean
Tere Jo Duperrault

A child witnesses murder of her family while on a sailboat, jumps overboard to escape and survives four days in the ocean.

Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea
Steven Callahan

After his sailboat sank in the Atlantic, Callahan spent 76 days in a five-foot inflatable raft, drifting 1800 miles before his rescue.

Red Sky Mourning
Tami Oldham Ashcraft

Fifty ft seas, hurricanes, and rolling boats - Ashcraft regains consciousness after 27 hours covered in blood with her partner vanished.

Overboard!
Michael J. Tougias

An enormous storm strikes, sweeping two into the sea - remaining crew stay aboard as boat is slowly torn apart by the rampaging ocean.

The Wreck of the Medusa
Jonathan Miles

After boat sinks and commander claims the few lifeboats, the rest are herded onto a makeshift raft where mayhem, mutiny and murder ensues.

Ice

Touching the Void
Joe Simpson

After climbing a 21,000-foot peak in the Andes, climber falls off vertical ledge, breaks leg and survives being cut from a safety rope.

Ice Bound
Dr. Jerri Nielsen

Doctor working in Antarctica finds lump in her own breast, performs a self-administerd biopsy, and gives herself chemotherapy.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
Alfred Lansing

Trapped in ice for five months, Shackleton & his men survive on a diet of dogs, penguins and seals.

Racing With Death
Beau Riffenburgh

Following the deaths of other members of his party, the author was left to struggle hundreds of miles back to base alone.

The Worst Journey in the World
Apsley Cherry-Garrard

A gripping account of an expedition gone disastrously wrong - this is the story of the Scott expedition to the Antarctic.

Marooned

Island of the Lost
Joan Druett

Shipwrecked on Auckland Island, the crew survives and thrives while another crew sucummbs to starvation and cannibalism 20 miles away.

Caliban's Shore
Stephen Taylor

In 1783 a ship is wrecked on the coast of southeast Africa. Most on board survive, including women & children and discovered they weren't alone.

Island of the Blue Dolphins
Scott O'Dell

Based on a true story, the book is about a 12 year old who escapes death and finds herself totally alone on a harsh, desolate island.

Castaway
Lucy Irvine

An account of how the author answered an ad for a "wife" to spend a year on a tropical island with a writer.

Selkirk's Island
Diana Souhami

Piracy and betrayal frame the epic story of solitary endurance that inspired Daniel Defoe's classic novel, Robinson Crusoe.

Heat

Volcanic Eruption!
Tim O'Shei

Camping only 14 miles from the Mount St. Helens volcano when it erupted, two people endure hot ash, rolling boulders and falling trees.

Left for Dead in the Outback
Ricky Megee

After being abducted, drugged, then left for dead, Ricky survived for three months on leeches, grasshoppers, frogs and plants.

Tracks
Robyn Davidson

A young woman's odyssey through the deserts of Australia, with no one but her dog and four camels as companions.

Through the Brazilian Wilderness
Theodore Roosevelt

In 1914, Roosevelt and his party paddled and carried their canoes down a 950-mile river. Men died, boats were lost.

The Lost City of Z
David Grann

A man dedicates his life to finding a lost city buried in the depths of the inhospitable Amazon jungle.

How To Survive

Deep Survival
Laurence Gonzales

Gonzales describes the "stages of survival" and reveals the essence of a survivor�truths that apply not only to surviving in the wild but in everyday life.

Surviving the Extremes
Nick Middleton