"A great treasure-trove of daunting human courage, frailty, and persistence in the face of the unknown."—Library Journal
From Robert Falcon Scott's final journal entry to Jon Krakauer's reckless solo climb of the Devil's Thumb, David Roberts and the editors of Outside have gathered the most enduring adventure literature of the century into one heart-stopping volume. A frigid winter ascent of Mount McKinley; the vastness of Arabia's Empty Quarter; the impossibly thin air at Everest's summit; the deadly black pressure of an underwater cave; a desperate escape through a Norwegian winter—these and thirty-six other stories recount the minutes, hours, and days of lives pushed to the brink. But there is more to adventure than hair's-breadth escapes. By turns charming and tragic, whimsical and nerve-racking, this extraordinary collection gets to the heart of why adventure stories enthrall us. Includes works by Sebastian Junger, Jon Krakauer, Edward Abbey, Tim Cahill, Edward Hoagland, Ernest Shackleton, Freya Stark, and Wilfred Thesiger.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
A great treasure-trove of daunting human courage, frailty, and persistence in the face of the unknown. -- Library Journal
A mesmerizing display of the pull adventure exerts. -- Booklist
A splendid new anthology of exploration literature. -- Newsweek
A mesmerizing display of the pull adventure exerts. -- Booklist
A splendid new anthology of exploration literature. -- Newsweek
About the Author
David Roberts is the author (with Conrad Anker) of The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mount Everest, among many other books. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fastest 600 pages I ever read,
By Mister Blonde "I like to rock" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Points Unknown: The Greatest Adventure Writing of the Twentieth Century (Outside Books) (Paperback)
If you like adventure nonfiction, go no further. This is a compendium of excerpts from lots of other great books, sort of like Reader's Digest. Each chapter is easy to absorb, and they are all absorbing. No matter what you're into, there is probably a cool story about it. And you will read other cool stories about things you never imagined. This book is a great starting point to finding other great works of adventure nonfiction.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The tragic story of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his four teammates reaching the South Pole in early 1912, only to discover that they had been beaten in the race to reach that goal by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian team, and then struggling valiantly to retrace their outward track back to base camp at McMurdo Sound, is one of the canonic sagas in exploration. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
cave divers, final pyramid, depth record, oxygen apparatus, cave diving Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Devils Thumb, White Eyes, Van Heerden, Wild Horse Mesa, North Fork, Sa'id Ja'far, Gipsy Moth, Gray Lizard, Clear River, Deer Creek, Empty Quarter, Sheck Exley, Tom Davis, Fossil Bay, North Col, Uruq al Shaiba, Brooks Range, Grand Canyon, Hindu Kush, New York, Shah Riza, South Col, White Mountain, Bait Kathir, Bertram Thomas New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The tragic story of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his four teammates reaching the South Pole in early 1912, only to discover that they had been beaten in the race to reach that goal by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian team, and then struggling valiantly to retrace their outward track back to base camp at McMurdo Sound, is one of the canonic sagas in exploration. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
cave divers, final pyramid, depth record, oxygen apparatus, cave diving Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Devils Thumb, White Eyes, Van Heerden, Wild Horse Mesa, North Fork, Sa'id Ja'far, Gipsy Moth, Gray Lizard, Clear River, Deer Creek, Empty Quarter, Sheck Exley, Tom Davis, Fossil Bay, North Col, Uruq al Shaiba, Brooks Range, Grand Canyon, Hindu Kush, New York, Shah Riza, South Col, White Mountain, Bait Kathir, Bertram Thomas New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 52
books:
See all 52 books this book cites
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book
cites this book:
- The Perfect Storm : A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger on 4 pages
- First Contact: New Guinea's Highlanders Encounter the Outside World by Bob Connolly in Front Matter, page 122, and page 123
- The South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the Fram, 1910-1912 by Captain Roald Amundsen in Front Matter, page 21, and page 68
- We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance by David Howarth in Front Matter, page 417, and Back Matter
- Arabian Sands: Revised Edition (Penguin Travel Library) by Wilfred Thesiger on page 80, page 92, and Back Matter
See all 52 books this book cites
- Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl on page 8
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