(Adapted from "Extreme Classics: the 100 greatest adventure books of all time" National Geographic Adventure July/August 2001)

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#6 Herzog, Maurice. Annapurna.
In 1950, without adequate maps, Herzog and Lachenal summitted the 8,000-meter peak without oxygen; enduring lost gloves, frostbite and an avalanche.

#7 Abbey, Edward. Desert Solitaire.
Abbey was a ranger in Utah's Arches National Monument and his experiences there are the basis for this book. One of the original voices in the environmental movement, his love and passion for the wild outdoors and the importance of its preservation are heard loud and strong.

#8 Markham, Beryl. West With the Night.
The story of Markham and her experiences in Africa, much of it spent in an Avro biplane, radiates excitement. Exquisite writing is sure to inspire.

#9 Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air.
A journalist and a top-notch climber, Krakauer chronicles the deadliest season ever on Everest - 1996. This is an extreme adventure book that tells ugly truths when greed becomes the motivator to reach the peak.

#13 Twain, Mark. Roughing It.
Twain went West for 6 years when the Civil War started. This record of his adventures is often funny and frequently hilarious, full of outrageous characters and events.

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#14 Dana, Richard Henry. Two Years Before the Mast.
Dropped out from Harvard, and weakened by measles, Dana became a sailor on a merchant ship. This American classic, vivid in its descriptions of the sailor's life, describes the perils and joys of a life at sea.

#17 Heyerdahl, Thor. Kon-Tiki.
Sailing from Peru to Polynesia, Norwegian Heyerdahl and company attempt to prove settlement in the South Pacific. A dramatic tale of daring adventure.

#20 Harrer, Heinrich. Seven Years in Tibet.
After escaping from a British prisoner-of-war camp in India, Harrer, a trained climber, went to the mountains of Tibet seeking freedom. In Lhasa he befriends the young Dalai Lama.

#22 Mawson, Douglas. Home of the Blizzard.
The year is 1912 in the forbidden terrain of Antarctica. Encountering blizzards, starvation and dysentery, Mawson endures.

#23 Darwin, Charles. The Voyage of the Beagle.
When Darwin boarded the Beagle on its long voyage to South America and the Pacific he was only 22 and not yet a scientist, but a man of leisure. This book details his early concepts in his theory of evolution.

#26 Wolfe, Tom. The Right Stuff.
Wolfe's best book and the first true classic from the dawn of space exploration. This is a detailed look into the lives and minds of the first men who dared to ride a rocket into outer space.

#30 Junger, Sebastian. The Perfect Storm.
A heroic story of the National Guard air-rescue teams and the ten-story high waves they encountered off the coast of Massachusetts while trying to rescue longline swordfish fishermen. Powerful weather and powerful reading (better than the movie).

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#31 Parkman, Francis. The Oregon Trail.
A classic tale of the American West in 1846 details life in the Rockies. Loved by generations.

#34 Albanov, Valerian. In the Land of White Death.
In 1912 two dozen men on a Russian ship were trapped in the frozen Arctic ice. Many tried to walk out but only two made it. A heroic story unknown to the world until it was reissued in 2000 in English.

#35 Worsley, F.A. Endurance.
Captain of the ship that also carried Shackleton to South Georgia island through horrendous weather. An exciting account of the 800 mile journey.

#37 Dinesen, Isak. Out of Africa.
Karen Blixen, writing under the pseudonym Dinesen, tells a beautiful story out of a love for the African countryside.

#45 Fletcher, Colin. The Man Who Walked Through Time.
Fletcher relates his tales of backpacking the 200-mile length of the Grand Canyon, a feat that had never been done before.

#50 Hansen, Eric. Stranger in the Forest.
A walk across Borneo, encountering crocodiles and tribesmen carrying spears, makes for an appealing tale of adventure.

#57 Kane, Joe. Running the Amazon.
With an eclectic international team, Kane paddles from the Andes to the Atlantic through terrifying rapids. Lots of human drama as well as high adventure.

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#58 Read, Piers Paul. Alive.
Horror and courage are related in this story of the Uruguayan rugby team whose airplane crashed in the Chilean Andes in 1972. Sixteen managed to survive for ten weeks in the mountains by eating their dead.

#67 Callahan, Steven. Adrift.
His 21-foot sailboat sank while this American was sailing solo across the Atlantic. He spent 76 days drifting, repelling sharks and without food. Survival in the face of hopelessness.

#69 Simpson, Joe. Touching the Void.
Spine-tingling reading about a mountain climbing expedition in the Andes that takes a turn for the worse.

#70 Davidson, Robyn. Tracks excerpted in From Alice to Ocean: Alone across the Outback.
A story in perseverance - a woman's tale of a solitary, 1700-mile journey across the Australian outback on wild camels.

#79 Cahill, Tim. Jaguars Ripped My Flesh.
Adventure journalism at its finest. Cahill tells of diving with sharks and sleeping with gorillas.

#97 Messner, Reinhold. The Crystal Horizon : Everest--the First Solo Ascent.
Messner's climb of Everest without oxygen in 1980 is documented in this tale of adventure. An inspiration to mountaineers throughout the world.

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