The Greatest Survival Stories Ever Told: Seventeen Incredible Tales [Hardcover]

Lamar Underwood (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2001 | Series: Greatest

From the tropics to the Artic Poles (and everywhere in between), seventeen epic tales of survival.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Underwood (On Dangerous Ground), a noted outdoorsman and the editorial director of the Outdoor Magazine Group of Harris Publications, has compiled 17 adventure pieces that pit humans against nature. The collection mixes fiction and nonfiction, and features excerpts from well-known works as well as reprints of magazine articles. All the tales are wonderfully written by such well-known authors as Rudyard Kipling, Jon Krakauer, Jack London, Farley Mowat and Sir Ernest Shackleton. While the fiction chosen by Underwood is imaginative and entertaining, the most compelling selections are among the nonfiction, for in these true stories, the choices and chances that determine life and death occur. Three excerpts in particular stand out as graphic, moving testimony to the human will to survive: an account from Piers Paul Read's book Alive, about the famous Andes plane crash; a section from Slavomir Rawicz's The Long Walk, which describes Soviet labor camp escapees' first few days traversing the Gobi Desert, having already walked across Siberia and China during WWII; and a couple of chapters from Shackleton's South, concerning his 800-mile trip in a lifeboat to get help for his stranded crew. Whether these are the greatest survival stories ever told, Underwood's collection makes for a brisk read and a great introduction to adventure writing. Most readers will be anxious to move on to the original materials.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Given the general public's interest in war and survival tales, these two collections of fiction and nonfiction excerpts should jump off the shelves of public libraries this summer. Underwood, a former editor of Outdoor Life and Sports Afield, caters to popular taste with the enthusiastic comments he offers as introduction to each selection. In defining the "greatest" tales, he looked beyond literary merit for prose that is engaging and illuminating and serves as a tribute to the participants. In The Greatest Survival Stories Ever Told, the reader will be struck by how fate, foul-ups, or bad luck often caused the adventures to end in tragedy, whether it involved the loss of limbs or of life. Many of the survival tales are classics, such as Jack London's "To Build a Fire," Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat," and Rudyard Kipling's "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi." The Greatest War Stories Ever Told relies on excerpts from the works of authors like Leo Tolstoy, Victor Hugo, Michael Shaara, and Erich Maria Remarque. In the introduction, Underwood explains his fascination with the symbolism of soldiers' boots. His goal is to capture how these boots traveled over beaches, jungles, and deserts, giving the reader a new way of appreciating these courageous soldiers. The sea tales of Irwin Shaw and C.S. Forester round out this anthology. Both are recommended for popular reading collections, including YA. Joyce Sparrow, Juvenile Welfare Board Lib. of Pinellas Cty., FL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press; 1st edition (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585742384
• ISBN-13: 978-1585742387
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #165,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Survival Stories, July 8, 2011

By 

JL "JL" (Granite Bay, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greatest Survival Stories Ever Told: Seventeen Incredible Tales (Hardcover)

The book was wonderful. The stories were riveting and some were sad, but inspiring and at the same time instructive.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish...", January 6, 2008

By 

Barbara L. Lemaster "Bibliophile" (Pompano Beach, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Greatest Survival Stories Ever Told: Seventeen Incredible Tales (Hardcover)

The title of my review is a quote from Daniel Webster. This collection of stories, both fiction and nonfiction, includes some of the best adventure writing ever. The fictional stories include "Leiningen Versus the Ants" by Carl Stephenson (the basis for the movie "The Naked Jungle") as well as "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling. The nonfiction stories include "The Long Walk" by Slavomir Rawicz and "Alive" by Piers Paul Read (the basis for movie with the same title). This is the perfect book to curl up with next to a roaring fire.