Help: true stories of wilderness survival
compiled May, 2004

Escape and Evasion : 17 true stories of downed pilots who made it back by Jimmy Kilbourne
358.414 KI
Survival stories from World Wars I and II and the conflicts in Korea and Southeast Asia.

Survive : stories of castaways and cannibals by Nate Hardcastle
613.69 HA
This is a book about people who find themselves in survival situations -- desert islands, lifeboats, jungles, deserts -- against their will. In most cases, they are ordinary people who must perform heroically to survive.

Alaska Ascents : world-class mountaineers tell their stories by Bill Sherwonit
YA 796.522 AL
A riveting anthology that highlights the state's challenging mountain peaks.

Risking Adventure : mountaineering journeys around the world by Jim Haberl
YA 796.522 HA
Unique stories of mountaineering summits, such as the famous K2 in Pakistan and Devil's Thumb in Alaska.

High : stories of survival from Everest and K2 by Clint Willis
YA 796.522 HI
In the first anthology ever to focus exclusively on the two highest, most formidable mountains in the world--Everest and K2--Willis presents 75 years of great writing, from Neil O'Dell to Jon Krakauer.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
796.522 KR
This definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest takes the reader from Katmandu to the mountain's deadly pinnacle and peers deeply into the myths surrounding the mountain.

Escape From Lucania by David Roberts
YA 796.522 RO
In 1937, 17,150-foot Mt. Lucania was the highest unclimbed peak in North America. But two men--Bradford Washburn and Bob Bates--set out to climb Lucania by flying to the base of the mountain.

Within Reach : my Everest story by Mark Pfetzer
YA 796.522 PF
In this suspenseful, moment-by-moment, first-person narrative, a teenage mountaineer takes readers past the ever-shifting Khumbu Icefall, over 300-foot crevices, and up into the high-altitude "Death Zone" of Everest.

In the Zone : epic survival stories from the mountaineering world by Peter Potterfield
YA 796.522 PO
Three gripping climbing narratives of climbers who have narrowly escaped death.

Godforsaken Sea : racing the world's most dangerous waters by Derek Lundy
797.1246 LU
The hair-raising account of the world's most demanding, dangerous, and deadly sailing race--the Vend e Globe--around the world, one sailor, one boat, no stops, no assistance.

Winterdance : the fine madness of running the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen
798.8092 PA
Fueled by a passion for running dogs, Gary Paulsen entered the Iditarod--the 1150-mile winter sled-dog race between Anchorage and Nome-- in dangerous ignorance and with a fierce determination.

Survive the Savage Sea by Dougal Robertson
910.4 RO
After their 43-foot schooner was stove in by a pod of killer whales, the six members of the Robertson family spent 37 days adrift in the Pacific.

Revenge of the Whale : the true story of the whaleship Essex by Nat Philbrick
YA 910.9164 PH
In 1820, the "Essex" was rammed by an enraged sperm whale and sunk in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Only eight of the men survived after months in a leaky lifeboat.

Shackleton's Forgotten Men : the untold tragedy of the endurance epic by Lennard Bickel
919.804 BI
Largely drawn from the author's interviews with team member Dick Richards, Australian writer Lennard Bickel remembers forgotten heroes in a gripping account that fills in a little-known and ironic piece of the Shackleton puzzle. A must-read companion to Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World.

Four to the Pole! : the American Women's Expedition to Antarctica, 1992-93 by Nancy Loewen and Anne Bancroft
YA 919.8904 AM
The American Women's Expedition (AWE) relentlessly pursued their goal to become the first women to reach the South Pole on foot.

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World by Jennifer Armstrong
YA 919.8904 AR
The true story of Shackleton's bungled attempt to reach the South Pole, complete with photos from the expedition

The Perfect Storm : a true story of men against the sea by Sebastian Junger
974.45 JU
It was the storm of the century, boasting waves over one hundred feet high - a tempest created by so rare a combination of factors that meteorologists deemed it "the perfect storm".

The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party by Marian Calabro
YA 979.403 CA
This account, filled with selections from survivors' letters and diaries, focuses on the children's experiences, making it uniquely compelling and accessible to young readers. Index, bibliography, chronology, and research sources included.

Alive; the story of the Andes survivors by Piers Paul Read
982 RE
True story about how a group of people who survived an airplane crash in the Andes had to resort to cannibalism in order to stay alive.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
B MCCANDLESS
Tells the story of Chris McCandless, a twenty-four-year-old who walked into the Alaskan wilderness on an idealistic journey and was found dead of starvation four months later.