According to National Geographic, these are the Top 100 adventure books.
Some classsics, some glaring omissions.
See what you think, then let me know:
1. The Worst Journey in the World, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, 1921,
2 The Journals of Lewis and Clark, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, 1814,
3 Wind, Sand, and Stars, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1940,
4 The Exploration of the Colorado River, John Wesley Powell, 1875,
5 Arabian Sands, Wilfred Thesiger, 1959,
6 Annapurna, Maurice Herzog, 1952,
7 Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey, 1968,
8 Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer, 1997,
9 West With the Night, Beryl Markam, 1942,
10 Travels, Marco Polo, 1298,
11 Farthest North, Fridtjof Nansen, 1897,
12 The Snow Leopard, Peter Matthiessen, 1978,
13 Roughing It, Mark Twain, 1872,
14 Two Years Before the Mast, Richard Henry Dana, 1840,
15 South, Ernest Shackelton, 1919,
16 A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, Eric Newby, 1958,
17 Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl, 1950,
18 Travels in West Africa, Mary Kingsley, 1897,
19 The Spirit of St. Louis, Charles Lindbergh, 1953,
20 Seven Years in Tibet, Heinrich Harrer, 1953,
21 Journals, James Cook, 1768-1779, 22 The Home of the Blizzard, Douglas Mawson, 1915, 23 The Voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin, 1839, 24 The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T. E. Lawrence, 1926, 25 Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa, Mungo Park, 1799, The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe, 1979, 27 Sailing Alone Around the World, Joshua Slocum, 1900, 28 The Mountain of My Fear and Deborah, David Roberts, 1968, 1970, 29 First Footsteps in East Africa, Richard Burton, 1856, 30 The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger, 1997, 31 The Oregon Trail, Francis Parkman, 1849, 32 Through the Dark Continent, Henry M. Stanley, 1878, 33 A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, Isabella L. Bird, 1879, 34 In the Land of White Death, Valerian Albanov, 1917, 35 Endurance, F. A. Worsley, 1931, 36 Scrambles Amongst the Alps, Edwad Whymper, 1871, 37 Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen, 1837, 38 Scott’s Last Expedition: The Journals, Robert Falcon Scott, 1913, 39 Everest: The West Ridge, Thomas Hornbein, 1963, 40 Journey Without Maps, Graham Greene, 1936, 41 Starlight and Storm, Gaston Rebuffat, 1954, 42 My First Summer in the Sierra, John Muir, 1911, 43 My Life As an Explorer, Sven Hedin, 1925, 44 In Trouble Again, Redmond O’Hanlon, 1988, 45 The Man Who Walked Through Time, Colin Fletcher, 1968, 46 K2 – The Savage Mountain, Charles Houstan and Robert Bates, 1954, 47 Gipsy Moth Circles the World, Francis Chichester, 1967, 48 Man Eaters of Kumaon, Jim Corbett, 1944, 49 Alone, Richard Byrd, 1938, 50 Stranger in the Forest, Eric Hansen, 1988, Travels in Arabia Deserta, Chares M. Doughty, 1988, 52 The Royal Road to Romance, Richard Halliburton, 1925, 53 The Long Walk, Slavomir Rawicz, 1956, 54 Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada, Clarence King, 1872, 55 My Journey to Lhasa, Alexandra David-Neel, 1927, 56 Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile, John Hanning Speke, 1863, 57 Running the Amazon, Joe Kane, 1989, 58 Alive, Piers Paul Read, 1974, 59 Principall Navigations, Richard Hakluyt, 1589-90, 60 Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, John Lloyd Stephens, 1843, 61 The Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex, Owen Chase, 1821, 62 Life in the Far West, George Frederick Ruxton, 1849, 63 My Life as an Explorer, Roald Amundsen, 1849, 64 News from Tartary, Peter Fleming, 1936, 65 Annapurna: A Woman’s Place, Arlene Blum, 1980, 66 Mutiny on the Bounty, William Bligh, 1790, 67 Adrift, Stephen Callahan, 1986, 68 Castaways, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, 1555, 69 Touching the Void, Joe Simpson, 1989, 70 Tracks, Robyn Davidson, 1980, 71 Adventures of Captain Bonneville, Washington Irving, 1837, 72 Cooper’s Creek, Alan Moorehead, 1963, 73 The Fearful Void, Geoffrey Moorhouse, 1874, 74 No Picnic on Mount Kenya, Felie Benuzzi, 1953, 75 Through the Brazilian Wilderness, Theodore Roosevelt, 1914, The Road to Oxiana, Robert Byron, 1937, 77 Minus 148 Degrees, Art Davidson, 1969, 78 Travels, Ibn Battuta, ca 1354, 79 Jaguars Ripped My Flesh, Tim Cahill, 1987, 80 Journal of a Trapper, Osborne Russell, 1914, 81 Full Tilt, Dervla Murphy, 1965, 82 Terra Incognita, Sara Wheeler, 1996, 83 We Die Alone, David Howarth, 1955, 84 Kabloona, Gontran de Poncins, 1941, 85 Conquistadors of the Useless, Lionel Terray, 1961, 86 Carrying the Fire, Micjael Collins, 1974, 87 Adventures in the Wilderness, William H. H. Murray, 88 The Mountains of My Life, Walter Bonatti, 1998, 89 Great Heart, James West Davidson and John Rugge, 1988, 90 Journal of the Voyage to the Pacific, Alexander Mackenzie, 1801, 91 The Valleys of the Assassins, Freya Stark, 1934, 92 The Silent World, Jacques Cousteau, 1953, 93 Alaska Wilderness, Robert Marshall, 1956, 94 Letter and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Conditions of the North, American Indians, George Catlin, 1841, 95 I Married Adventure, Osa Johnson, 1940, 96 The Descent of Pierre Saint Martin, Norbert Casteret, 1954, 97 The Crystal Horizon, Reinhold Messner, 1982, 98 Narrative of a Journey Across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River, John Kirk Townsend, 1839, 99 Grizzly Years, Doug Peacock, 1990, 100 One Man’s Mountains, Tom Patey, 1971
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I just read an excerpt from K2 The Savage Mountain by Houston and Bates in a collection called “High” by Clint Willis. These stories are more frightening than watching a horror movie. One thing I noticed in some of the other stories is that once the climbers got past a certain altitude they only cared about their own survival, even if it was their best friend on the ice below them. Something to do with it feeling like you are in an opium den. I can see why you love this literature.
I read through the Top 100 list, thinking I had surely missed a favourite of mine, Alone at Sea by Dr. Hannes Lindemann. Slowly it dawned on me that this book had not been published in English till some 35 years after the event, and it wasn’t about a Brit, but a German. I know what you’re thinking, so what, but I think we and certainly National Geo naturally have an anglo-centric viewpoint. Hannes Lindemann made a solo crossing of the Atlantic first in a dugout canoe he made in Liberia, second in a 17 foot long Klepper folding kayak, the smallest boat ever to cross the Atlantic. You can still buy an identical boat from Klepper. It was 1957 and the voyage took him 76 days. He didn’t have enough food for such a long trip, and though he caught fish, he lost a quarter of his body weight and his pulse fell to between 30 and 40.
These guys are such characters; much as we try to learn from them, it’s their character that sees them through. But Lindemann spent a lot of time building his determination by training himself at night by listening to tapes telling himself (1) never give up and keep heading west and (2) never accept any assistance. When he had hallucinations of a waiter telling him to relax, give up and “don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything”, that training saved him for he responded even in his starved stupor, that no thanks, he had to keep heading west.
The book is in print at the moment and available on Amazon. While searching for it I saw another book that looked interesting, Kayak across the Atlantic (author: Peter Bray), about a 2001 voyage by a Brit, claiming a first for a ‘paddle-powered kayak’, which is worth noting, because Lindemann’s boat, though almost certainly shorter than Bray’s modern boat, was sail-powered. Counting on tailwinds for his route, Lindemann was pushed along without needing a keel. Last interesting note – Peter Bray’s journey took 76 days, same as Dr. Lindemann’s.
missing some Moitessier
I have only read 14 on this list which is not many but I own most of the 14.
An interesting list for sure but I think it will always be reflected by taste and as such it only becomes a “Top 100” for whoever did the research and article, none the less a great reading list 🙂
Home of the Blizzard, Douglas Mawson
The Heart of the Antarctic, Ernest Shackleton
Shackleton’s Last Voyage, Frank Wild
Miles From Nowhere, Barbara Savage