Explorer & Adventurer Biographies

In the summer of 1938, botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter set off to run the Colorado River, accompanied by an ambitious and entrepreneurial expedition leader, a zoologist, and two amateur boatmen. With its churning waters and treacherous boulders, the Colorado was famed as the most dangerous river in the world. Journalists and veteran river runners boldly proclaimed that the...

In 1908, at the age of two, Henry Pu Yi ascended to become the last emperor of the centuries-old Manchu dynasty. After revolutionaries forced Pu Yi to abdicate in 1911, the young emperor lived for thirteen years in Peking's Forbidden City, but with none of the power his birth afforded him. The remainder of Pu Yi's life was lived out...

Triumphs and disasters in the deep sea This is a journey through time and water, to the bottom of the ocean and the future of our planet. We do not see the ocean when we look at the water that blankets more than two-thirds of our planet. We only see the entrance to it. Beyond that entrance is a world...

The invigorating true story of a man and his dog who circled the globe on foot. After the death of a close friend at seventeen, Tom Turcich resolved to make the most out of life; to travel and be forced into adventure; to experience and understand the world. On April 2nd, 2015, he set out to see it all one...

'A riveting, unvarnished and wholly unforgettable portrait of America’s most storied commandos at war.' - Joby Warrick, author of Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction A stirringly evocative, thought-provoking, and often jaw-dropping account of SEAL Team Operator Robert O’Neill’s awe-inspiring 400-mission career. O’Neill describes his idyllic childhood in Butte, Montana; his...

'Holds up a mirror to a pioneering explorer of the deep seas' Financial Times Exquisite . . . full of fascinating technology, novel marine discoveries - and unusual scientists' New Scientist 'An exhilarating read and one of the best things I've read in years' Martin MacInnes ____________ 11 June, 1930. On a ship floating near Nonsuch Island, a curious steel...

From balancing on a wingtip to circling with eagles, Take Flight tells the stories of Australian women who have leapt, tumbled and dived, and reached for the stars. Helicopter pilot Alida Soemawinata ascends over Kata Tjuta. Paramotor pilot Sacha Dench follows migrating swans from the Arctic tundra to the English countryside. Birdwoman Stef Walter wing walks. Hot air balloonist Donna...

The extraordinary stories of the fearless women who set their sights on the sea in an all-male world, paving the way for the female sailing superstars of today. Gender issues are stark at sea. Historically, a ship’s crew is all male, and although vessels are referred to as ‘she’, women’s contributions to sailing have been largely ignored, if not actively...

At the age of sixty, and having lived with Parkinson's disease for over ten years, Guy Deacon CBE set out on one last adventure: to drive solo from his home in the UK 18,000 miles and through twenty-five countries to Cape Town on the southern tip of Africa. This incredible journey, across Europe and down the full length of Africa,...

The New York Times bestselling book from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg—“a comprehensive look inside her brilliantly analytical, entertainingly wry mind, revealing the fascinating life of one of our generation's most influential voices in both law and public opinion” (Harper’s Bazaar). My Own Words showcases Ruth Ginsburg’s astonishing intellectual range (The New Republic). In this collection, Justice Ginsburg discusses...

This debut memoir is at once a captivating travelogue and an introspective look at what it takes to navigate the unfamiliar and find your way back home. Meghan J. Ward was 21 years old when she journeyed across the country for a summer job in the Canadian Rockies. As an inexperienced hiker from the suburbs of the nation's capital, she...

Anya Liftig grew up with a foot in two very different worlds: While her mother's upbringing was so rural that the other kids called her "holler rat," her father came from a comfortable, upper-middle-class Jewish family. Anya spent school years in affluent Connecticut and summers in the holler. Shaped by the experience, she would go on to win a scholarship...

Off the coast of Oregon, the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean and forms the Columbia River Bar: a watery collision so turbulent and deadly that it's nicknamed the Graveyard of the Pacific. Two thousand ships have been wrecked on the bar since the first European ship dared to try to cross it in the late 18th century. Since...

George Michael was an extravagantly gifted, openhearted soul singer whose work was both pained and smoulderingly erotic. He was a songwriter of true craft and substance, and his music swept the world, starting in the mid-1980s. His fabricated image—that of a hypermacho sex god—loomed large in the pop culture of his day. It also hid—for a time—the secret he fought...

Near the death zone on K2, the world's second-highest mountain, Lisa Thompson searched for the strength to continue climbing. Her choices were clear: give in to her doubts and descend or push past her own limits and continue up the mountain's steep face. Defiance had provoked Thompson to enter the male-dominated world of high-altitude mountaineering, but defiance could only take...

On 6 June, 1924, George Mallory donned an oxygen set and set off for the summit of Everest with his young partner Andrew Irvine. The next day, they were glimpsed through clouds heading upwards, but after that they were never seen again. Whether they died on the way up or on the way down, no one knows. In the years...

Fallen by Mick Conefrey is a marvellously researched and written story about the enigma of George Mallory and the fulfilment of his "Because it's there!" 'Mick Conefrey's gripping account explores the 1924 expedition and the enigma of the man who nearly made it to the summit.' Financial Times 'Mick Conefrey has become one of our finest gazetteers of the Himalaya.'...

The epic, multi-millennia story of humanity's obsession with the North Pole, from Norwegian explorer Erling Kagge who travelled there in 1990. Throughout recorded human time, few places on Earth have inspired as much fascination as the North Pole. This is an otherworldly place where the sun rises and stays aloft for six whole months before setting, plunging the expanse of...

11 June, 1930. On a ship floating near the Atlantic island of Nonsuch, a curious steel ball is lowered 3000ft into the sea. Crumpled up inside, gazing through the three-inch thick quartz windows, sits the famed zoologist William Beebe. With uncontrollable excitement, he watches as bizarre, never-before-seen creatures drift out of the inky blackness, illuminated by explosions of bioluminescence, bathing...

Fallen by Mick Conefrey is a marvellously researched and written story about the enigma of George Mallory and the fulfilment of his "Because it's there!" 'Mick Conefrey's gripping account explores the 1924 expedition and the enigma of the man who nearly made it to the summit.' — Financial Times 'Mick Conefrey has become one of our finest gazetteers of the...

Doctor Max Jacobson, whom the Secret Service under President John F. Kennedy code-named Dr. Feelgood, developed a unique "energy formula" that altered the paths of some of the twentieth century's most iconic figures, including President and Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis. JFK received his first injection (a special mix of "vitamins and hormones," according to Jacobson) just...

HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics. Now we clung to a battered little boat, 'alone, alone – all, all alone; alone on a wide, wide sea.' The ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 was to be the first land-crossing of Antarctica. When disaster strikes, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s party has no choice but to make an...

This is the astounding story of the six female aviators who battled to become the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by plane. In the early 20th century, the dream of crossing the Atlantic by air was as potent as putting a man on the moon would be 50 years later. But many people believed women too fragile and...

In this lucid biography, Andreas Daum offers a succinct and novel interpretation of the life and oeuvre of Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859). A Prussian nobleman born into the age of European Enlightenment, Humboldt was a contemporary of Napoleon, Simón Bolívar, and Charles Darwin. As a naturalist and scholar, he travelled the world, from the Americas to Central Asia, and recorded...

Join Bobby Bolton and his trusted dog, Red, as they drive from Wigan across the world – and fall in love with life again . . . When Bobby’s eleven-year relationship broke down, he thought he’d hit rock bottom. Then a bad economic turn and a run of unlucky business deals drove his hard-earned construction company into the ground, and...

September 1, 1985. The RMS Titanic, which has been missing since April 15, 1912, is found in the North Atlantic where it lies at a depth of 3,821 metres. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a commander in the French Navy, directed underwater research of part of many expeditions to the wreck, from 1987 until his untimely death in 2023. With hundreds of hours...

Triumphs and disasters in the deep sea This is a journey through time and water, to the bottom of the ocean and the future of our planet. We do not see the ocean when we look at the water that blankets more than two-thirds of our planet. We only see the entrance to it. Beyond that entrance is a world...

The secrets to a good life drawn from the extreme experiences of a seasoned explorer. Surviving extreme conditions can teach us to lead a fulfilled life. No one knows this better than Erling Kagge, who was the first man in history to reach all of the Earth's poles by foot—the North, the South, and the summit of Everest. In The...

The Joy of Living is a story that touches the soul and offers heart-warming, fascinating, and deep insights on the hard road from diagnosis to treatment and eventual survival from throat cancer. Barry Eaton, author and radio presenter, describes the careful preparations he made for his journey, using his experience and understanding of the spirit world to deal with and...

An exuberant biography of the life of the iconic photographer and naturalist Peter Beard, whose life and work captured the cultural imagination. Peter Beard lived an astonishing life. The artist, wildlife photographer, and bon vivant enthralled and inspired both because of his work and his legendary lifestyle. A scion of American industry turned explorer of Africa and environmental advocate, Beard...

Jackie Goldschneider, star of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, bravely chronicles her decades-long battle with anorexia and public journey to recovery in this “courageously candid” (Kirkus Reviews) memoir. All Jackie Goldschneider ever wanted was to be thin. As a child, she’d stand in front of the mirror, sucking in her stomach and arching her back to feel her ribs,...

Arnold Dix became an unlikely hero when he promised to save forty-one men trapped after a tunnel collapse in the Himalayas. This is his unforgettable story. In rural Victoria, Arnold Dix is known to locals as a farmer and a part-time truck driver. But his name reached global recognition when he played a pivotal role in rescuing forty-one Indian workers...

The incredible account of Sister Betty Jeffrey OAM and the Australian war nurses who survived the bombing of evacuation ship SS Vyner Brooke in February 1942, and subsequently spent three years in Japanese prison camps in Sumatra. During those perilous years surviving in squalid conditions, Sister Jeffrey kept a secret diary of day-to-day events which, after the war, was turned...

The unlikely and sometimes harrowing journey of an iconic evangelist, known to millions as simply Reverend Ike, will draw you into his remarkable story of rising from extreme poverty and leading millions of poor Blacks to unprecedented financial success, independence, and joyful living by understanding the profound Biblical promises of prosperity. Lovingly known by his ardent and enthusiastic followers as...

The story of Scott Donaldson's relentless journey to be the first person to cross the Tasman Sea solo in a kayak Unpredictable and unforgiving, the Tasman Sea is one of the most hostile stretches of water in the world. An Australian adventurer attempted to kayak across in 2007, disappearing without a trace. In 2018, Kiwi adventurer Scott Donaldson spent two...

The official biography of Australian poet and writer Dorothea Mackellar, author of the celebrated poem ‘My Country.’ ‘I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains…’ Though many Australians know lines from Dorothea Mackellar’s classic poem ‘My Country’ by heart, very little has been written about the poet’s extraordinary life. From her childhood and youth in Sydney’s Point Piper,...

The extraordinary life, loves and voyages of the man who put Australia on the map, now with a foreword from Flinders' great-great-great-grand-daughters on the 250th anniversary of his birth. In 1810, Matthew Flinders made his final voyage home to his beloved wife, Ann, his body ravaged by the deprivations of years of imprisonment by the French. Four years later, at...

An immersive memoir about a groundbreaking surfing career, and a stunning portrait of Ireland as one of the world's most captivating big-wave surfing destinations. Born and raised in Bundoran, with the waves of the west coast of Ireland breaking at his doorstep, Richie Fitzgerald was moulded by his environment – from his initiation to surfing at the age of 9...

The Big Hop tells the powerful true story of the first flight across the Atlantic and the ordinary heroes who risked their lives in the pursuit of progress. 'David Rooney is an expert storyteller with a big heart, capturing not only the perils faced by the intrepid airmen who attempted the flight, but also their humanity.’ – JOHN LANCASTER, author...

In this memoir, iconic singer Linda Ronstadt weaves together a captivating story of her origins in Tucson, Arizona, and her rise to stardom in the Southern California music scene of the 1960s and ‘70s. Tracing the timeline of her remarkable life, Linda Ronstadt, whose forty-five-year career has encompassed a wide array of musical styles, presents a compelling narrative. Born into...

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Former White House Press Secretary and current MSNBC host Jen Psaki shares the surprising lessons she's learned on her path to success and offers unique yet universal advice about how to be a more effective communicator in any situation. Not many White House Press Secretaries capture the nation’s interest the way Jen Psaki did. Refreshingly...

‘Brilliant, clear, and humane’ Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love ‘Miraculous and hopeful’ Emma Straub, author of All Adults Here ‘Quietly profound … belongs on the shelf next to Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild’ New York Times Riverman: An American Odyssey uncovers the story of an extraordinary man and his puzzling disappearance, and paints a picture of the singular...

The New York Times bestselling biography of John Wayne: “authoritative and enormously engaging…Eyman takes you through Wayne’s life, his death, and his legend in a detailed, remarkably knowledgeable yet extremely readable way” (Peter Bogdanovich, The New York Times Book Review). John Wayne: The Life and Legend brings to life the celebrated Hollywood icon in this complex portrait by noted film...

In his signature larger-than-life style, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Total Recall is a revealing self-portrait of his illustrious, controversial and truly unique life. Born in a small Austrian town in 1947, a year of famine, he was the son of an austere police chief. He dreamed of moving to America to become a bodybuilding champion and a movie star. By the age...

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics. “That these man-like creatures were in truth only bestial monsters, mere grotesque travesties of men, filled me with a vague uncertainty of their possibilities far worse than any definite fear.” Edward Prendick, the sole survivor of a shipwreck in the South Pacific, is set ashore on an island...

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides. Scientist Pierre Aronnax and his colleagues set out on an expedition to...

The cult psychedelic adventure memoir from the world-famous ethnobotanist Terence McKenna. 'The single most influential spokesperson for organic psychedelics' - The Independent With a new foreword from Dennis McKenna. From renowned ethnobotanist and psychonaut Terence McKenna comes this surreally mind-bending adventure into the depths of the human experience. True Hallucinations is a mesmerising odyssey of McKenna's travels in the Amazon...

The untold story of Britain's most mysterious mountaineering legend—Maurice Wilson—and his heroic attempt to climb Everest. Alone. In the 1930s, as official government expeditions set their sights on conquering Everest, a little-known World War I veteran conceived his own crazy, beautiful plan. He would fly a Gipsy Moth aeroplane from England to Everest, crash land on its lower slopes, then...

The extraordinary new autobiography from adventurer Bear Grylls. The sequel to the multi-million copy selling global phenomenon Mud, Sweat and Tears. 'Grylls takes you behind the scenes on his most thrilling adventures. Riveting.' - Daily Mail 'A rocket-fuelled adventure.' - Tim Peake 'His passion for adventure is truly infectious.' - Gareth Southgate Bear Grylls has always sought out adventure. From...

Latitude is the epic true story of the first ever international scientific expedition to accurately discover the shape of the earth. By knowing the shape of our earth, we can create maps, survive the oceans, follow rivers, navigate the skies, and travel across the globe. This is the story of our world, of how we discovered what no one thought...

Watched by the world with bated breath, read the enthralling inside story of the Thai Cave Rescue from leading rescuer Rick Stanton. Thailand, July 2018. Twelve boys and their football coach vanish into Tham Luang caves. Rick Stanton, a retired Midlands firefighter, races to save them. The boys have been missing for days. Each hour, their chance of escape shrinks....

An extraordinary true tale of love, shipwreck, and survival, beautifully told—Maurice and Maralyn's escape from 1970s England and its oil crisis, strikes, and inflation is also a story for our times. SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARDS NON-FICTION AWARD 2024 An extraordinary true story of shipwreck, survival, and love. 'An absolute jewel of a book' - India Knight 'A gripping...

Featuring original interviews with mountain guides and climbers—including Jimmy Chin and Conrad Anker—this vivid and authoritative adventure history chronicles one of the least likely industries on Earth: guided climbing on Mount Everest. Anyone who has read Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air or has seen a recent photo of climbers standing in line to get to the top of Everest may...

The International BestsellerA Times Best Memoir of 2023 Wavewalker is grippingly vivid and pacey. An electrifying story about an extraordinary childhood, and Heywood tells it with remarkable clarity and assurance. This engrossing book pitches the reader into the highs and lows of a young life spent in the "Wavewalker School of the Sea." "A seven-year-old girl on a seventy-foot yacht,...

Wanderlust by Reid Mitenbuler is an epic narrative following the extraordinary life of Peter Freuchen, an eccentric adventurer whose escapades spanned some of the most remote and perilous frontiers of the twentieth century. The story opens with a heart-pounding scene set in the Arctic wilderness, where Freuchen finds himself buried alive under the snow during a sudden blizzard. As he...

“One of the most detailed, nuanced portraits of Jackie to date.” —The Washington Post An illuminating and “wholly refreshing” (David Maraniss, New York Times bestselling author) biography of the young Jackie Bouvier Kennedy that covers her formative adventures abroad in Paris; her life as a writer and photographer in Washington, DC; and her romance with a dashing, charismatic Massachusetts congressman...

In 1980, Graham Broyd did something outrageous—he sold his scholarship ticket to Washington, DC, bought a one-way flight to Los Angeles, and set off to hitchhike across America. Armed with a red backpack, a surfboard, and a knack for finding himself in both incredible and ridiculous situations, he bummed rides, crashed on beaches, and stumbled into experiences that would shape...

The Curse of Oak Island is high-quality narrative non-fiction from a top-shelf journalist, extrapolated from Randall Sullivan's successful 2004 Rolling Stone article of the same title. The Oak Island mystery is the subject of the History Channel's reality TV series The Curse of Oak Island, which debuted in January 2014 and has become one of the most successful original shows...

Arctic historian Ken McGoogan approaches the legacy of nineteenth-century explorer Sir John Franklin from a contemporary perspective and offers a surprising new explanation of an enduring Northern mystery. Two of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin's expeditions were monumental failures—the last one leading to more than a hundred deaths, including his own. Yet many still see the Royal Navy man as...

The #1 New York Times Bestseller `Walter Isaacson is not an art historian, he’s simply a lover of Leonardo, who manages to communicate the sheer joy of this remarkable man’Books of the Year - The Times `Walter Isaacson keeps the mortal man to the fore. For all his supernatural gifts as an artist and natural scientist. Leonardo was resolutely human...

It's time we celebrated women in adventure. What does "toughness" mean to you? Perhaps it's being physically fit and mentally resilient. Perhaps it's doing something no one else has done before. Perhaps it's breaking down boundaries and proving what you can do, in spite of the naysayers. Perhaps it's travelling alone, immersing yourself in new cultures and meeting new people....

Hubert Wilkins was truly the last—and one of the greatest—explorers. And much more than that. Born in South Australia, he spent much of his life outside the country—but always remained an Australian. He travelled through every continent and was a pioneer of aviation. He survived crashes and disasters, firing squads and sabotage, living long enough to be honoured by kings,...

In 1616, an English adventurer, Nathaniel Courthope, stepped ashore on a remote island in the East Indies on a secret mission - to persuade the islanders of Run to grant a monopoly to England over their nutmeg, a fabulously valuable spice in Europe. This infuriated the Dutch, who were determined to control the world's nutmeg supply. For five years, Courthope...

The New York Times Bestseller As featured on The Joe Rogan Experience and Diary of a CEO Are we hardwired to crave more? From food and possessions to information and influence, why can't we ever get enough? Michael Easter, author of The Comfort Crisis and one of the world's leading experts on behaviour change, suggests that the problem isn't you....

Great explorers are known for their hard-earned skills and meticulously honed character traits, which have made their astonishing endeavours possible. Valuable lessons are waiting to be learned from the feats attained by the most revered names in exploration, from legendary adventurers such as Ernest Shackleton to lesser-known figures such as Junko Tabei. Life Lessons from Explorers collects 15 of the...

'The thinking man's action hero' - The Times Magazine Trained Royal Marines Sniper, world record breaker and extreme TV adventurer, Aldo Kane is known for his ability to navigate and lead through challenging and pressured environments, whether it be abseiling into an erupting volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo, rowing the Atlantic, getting locked in a bunker for 10...

The eighteenth century was an era when brave mariners took their ships beyond the horizon in search of an unknown world. Those chosen to lead these expeditions were exceptional navigators, men who had shown brilliance as they ascended the ranks in the Royal Navy. They were also bloody good sailors. From ship's boy to vice-admiral, discover how much more there...

This stunning and powerfully relevant book tells the history of Antarctica through 100 varied and fascinating objects drawn from collections around the world. Retracing the history of Antarctica through 100 varied and fascinating objects drawn from collections across the world, this beautiful and absorbing book is published to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the first crossing into the Antarctic...

Join renowned adventurer Frank Wolf on a gripping and epic journey through Canada's unforgiving northern wilderness. Renowned adventurer Frank Wolf annually embarks on a series of long-distance wilderness journeys. A little while back, he attempted a 280 km ski journey across Baffin Island, a 1,750 km canoe trip through the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, and a 550 km ski retracing...

Martin Hibbert was left paralysed from the waist down by the Manchester Arena bombing, which killed twenty-two people on 22 May 2017. Martin's teenage daughter Eve was one of the 940 injured, in Eve's case, gravely. The dad from Bolton has since become a leading campaigner both for victims of the atrocity and those with spinal cord injuries. Determined to...

An inspiring, moving, and unblinking view of a battered climber who refuses to turn his back on the mountains. Born in Bolton, England, Paul Pritchard started climbing when he was 16 years old. In time, he became one of the foremost British climbers of the 1980s and 1990s, climbing difficult routes across the United Kingdom and around the world. His...

'It is almost impossible not to fall under the spell of Eustace Conway ... his accomplishments, his joy and vigour, seem almost miraculous' - New York Times Review of Books 'Gilbert takes a bright-eyed bead on Eustace, hitting him square with a witty modernist appraisal of folkloric American masculinity' - The Times 'Conversational, enthusiastic, funny and sharp, the energy of...

Exciting, funny, and occasionally heart-stopping...readers can stay home and dry, but feel like they are on the high seas. BOOKLIST A man and his chicken sail 45,000 nautical miles in this powerful story of following your dreams no matter what stands in your way. When Guirec Soudee was 21 years old, he bought a 30-foot sailboat and set out across...

An inspiring book about love in its purest form. - JANE GOODALL, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace With the heartwrenching vulnerability of The Glass Castle and the spiritual journey of H is for Hawk, this stunning debut memoir tells the story of a traumatised young woman's friendship with an injured dolphin whose habitat...

Updated with an Epilogue examining new evidence about the actual perpetrators. Using newly declassified information, Dick Russell builds on four decades of painstaking research in On the Trail of the JFK Assassins, offering one of the most comprehensive and authoritative examinations of the assassination of our thirty-fifth president. Included are revelations, such as the theory that Lee Harvey Oswald was...

Doug Scott was a legend among mountaineers. His expeditions, undertaken over a period of five decades, are unparalleled achievements. This book describes the extraordinary drama of them all, from the Himalaya to New Zealand, Patagonia, Yosemite, and Alaska. It includes his famous 'epic' on The Ogre, one of the hardest peaks in the world to climb, his ascent of Kangchenjunga...

When Harold Bell Lasseter disappeared in late 1930, it could have been the end of a mystery. Thirty-three years earlier, he had staggered out of the desert, almost dead, his pockets bulging with gold, claiming to have found a 15-kilometre gold reef. The mystery deepened when he and a surveyor returned to the isolated and mysterious ranges where the reef...

WINNER OF THE 2023 EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Silvia Vasquez-Lavado is a warrior. I'm in awe of her strength and courage' - Selena Gomez 'An incredibly powerful story' Sunday Independent In the Shadow of the Mountain has all the elements a great memoir requires - a strong voice, cinematic prose, a hero to root for - in...

A compelling memoir about opting for adventure instead of motherhood, and the lifelong outcomes of that choice. Instead captures Maria Coffey's adventurous life through her biggest decisions along the way, including the decision not to have children. It's a vivid travelogue, a love story, and a personal commentary on the risks and rewards of choosing unconventional paths. After two traumatic...

100 of the most astonishing stories of human survival, adventure and exploration, chosen by Levison Wood. We are always captivated by tales of courage and bravery, of world-firsts and death-defying experiences. In this anthology, explorer and bestselling author Levison Wood has gathered 100 of the most fascinating accounts of human endurance throughout history. From the heroism of Antarctic explorers to...