The 25 essential books for the well-read explorer as chosen by Brad Weiner and the editors at Outside.

		E-mail Print
Select Item

	Wind, Sand and Stars  •  Antoine de Saint Exupery TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1967 •  PAPER  • 229 PAGES • FAVORITE St. Exupery's luminous account of flying early postal routes throughout the world in the 1930s, including the classic tale of his crash in the Libyan desert. A man of action with the soul of a poet, his memorable stories of flying over South America, Europe and the deserts of West Africa are compelling, specifically the one about going solo in a storm over the Andes. (DES11, $13.00)
	The Worst Journey in the World  •  Apsley Cherry-Garrard EXPLORATION •  2006 •  PAPER  • 573 PAGES • FAVORITE One of the great tales of exploration, originally published in 1922. Cherry-Garrard's epic midwinter journey to the emperor penguin rookery is just a warm-up for the main event: his vivid account of Scott's doomed last expedition. This huge book, called the best adventure tale ever written, is well worth the effort. It was neighbor George Bernard Shaw, an early supporter of Cherry-Garrard, who bestowed the title. (ANT23, $18.00)
	West with the Night  •  Beryl Markham BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1983 •  PAPER  • 294 PAGES • FAVORITE A direct, stylish, and engrossing story of a marvelous life well lived. Markham describes her childhood in Kenya and her experiences as a bush pilot in the 1930s, evoking the landscapes, people, and wildlife of East Africa in rich detail. (EAF10, $15.00)
	The Snow Leopard  •  Peter Matthiessen EXPLORATION •  1996 •  PAPER  • 352 PAGES • FAVORITE A vivid memoir of a five-week journey through Nepal with George Schaller in search of the magnificent leopard. As perceptive, wonderful and acutely descriptive as any of Matthiessen's writing. (NPL03, $15.00)
	Desert Solitaire  •  Edward Abbey NATURAL HISTORY •  1990 •  PAPER  • 289 PAGES • FAVORITE A beloved classic, read aloud at campfires throughout the Southwest. It's one of the great works on the value of the desert, eloquent and laugh-out-loud funny. Although Abbey writes specifically about the Colorado Plateau and his experiences as a ranger at Arches National Park outside Moab Utah, his message is universal. Originally published in 1990. (DES02, $14.95)
	Endurance, An Epic of Polar Adventure  •  Frank Worsley  •  Patrick O'Brian EXPLORATION •  2000 •  PAPER  • 320 PAGES First published in 1931, this memoir opens in Shackleton's cabin aboard the Endurance in 1913 and ends with Shackleton's death at South Georgia on January 5, 1922. It's Worsely's modest account high adventure, not only as a key member of the Endurance expedition but also as a combatant in WWI. A valued friend, Worsley also participated on Shackleton's last expedition. (ANT73, $13.95)
	Sailing Alone Around the World  •  Joshua Slocum  •  Thomas Philbrick EXPLORATION •  2008 •  PAPER  • 272 PAGES An American hero and born storyteller, Slocum sailed alone around the world at the turn of the century. This classic book, in a handsome hardcover edition with the original illustrations, is his own account of the three-year voyage. (EXP03, $10.95)
	Into the Wild  •  Jon Krakauer EXPLORATION •  1997 •  PAPER  • 224 PAGES The gripping tale of a young man searching for experience, wilderness and himself, who meets death during a solo journey into the Alaskan wilds north of Mt. McKinley in 1992. (ALA52, $13.95)
	Coming into the Country  •  John McPhee CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1976 •  PAPER  • 438 PAGES • FAVORITE An outstanding portrayal of frontier life in Alaska circa 1976, this is among the finest of this gifted writer's works. Beautifully written, it's an even-handed look at environmental issues, as well as a hilarious portrait of some unforgettable Alaskan characters. Originally published in "The New Yorker." (ALA04, $17.00)
	Arabian Sands  •  Wilfred Thesiger  •  Rory Stewart EXPLORATION •  2007 •  PAPER  • 400 PAGES • FAVORITE The last of the great British traveler-explorers, Wilfred Thesiger (1910-2003) journeyed among the nomadic camel-breeding peoples of Southern Arabia in the late 1940s, falling in love with the desert and ways of life of the Bedouin. This eloquent book, a Longitude favorite, is his tribute to vanished traditions. (ARB15, $15.00)
	Touching the Void  •  Joe Simpson BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2004 •  PAPER  • 218 PAGES The harrowing tale of a climb gone badly wrong and Simpson's near miraculous survival in the Andes. Dedicated to Simon Yates ("for a debt I can never repay"), Simpson recounts his 3-day ordeal after being cut loose by his climbing partner on the face of a glacier and dropping into a crevasse. Neither men thought he would survive. Yates had been lowering his crippled partner down the mountain, when he had to make the choice of cutting him lose or dying with him. More than a tale of adventure and survival, the book has a psychological impact -- and now it has been made into a film, which interweaves interviews of Simpson and Yates with a reenactment. (AND37, $14.95)
	The Mountains of My Life  •  Walter Bonatti BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2001 •  PAPER  • 442 PAGES The candid memoir of the great Italian climber and his adventures in the Alps, the Himalayas, and South America, including Bonatti's account of what happened on the summit of K2 in 1954 (which caused a ruckus in the Italian press, libel suits and other bad behavior). Many would agree Bonatti was treated badly by the press and Italian mountaineering community. Bonatti includes the 1986 report on the K2 affair by Robert Marshall, who also translated the book and provides an introduction. (ALP25, $16.95)
	In Patagonia  •  Bruce Chatwin TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1989 •  PAPER  • 204 PAGES • FAVORITE A masterpiece of travel, history and adventure. This award-winning book captures the spirit of the land, history, wildlife and people of Patagonia. There's no travel writer as engaging, insightful and just plain wonderful as Bruce Chatwin. (PAT01, $15.00)
	Arctic Dreams, Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape  •  Barry Lopez NATURAL HISTORY •  2001 •  PAPER  • 417 PAGES • FAVORITE One of the best books we've read on any destination, this celebrated meditation on the Arctic draws on Lopez's travels throughout the North, including Baffin Island, Siberia and Greenland. A dazzling writer and compassionate observer, Lopez weaves biology and history into his storytelling, including extended chapters on the polar bear and narwhal. (ARC11, $15.00)
	A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush  •  Eric Newby TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2008 •  PAPER  • 255 PAGES • FAVORITE Newby wrote a string of memorable books of his adventures, often on a bicycle, but sometimes by foot or train, usually with his wife Wanda. This, one of his earliest, is a superb example of the misguided lark, an account of a comically ill-prepared jaunt in the Naristan mountains of northeastern Afghanistan. "People like it," he explained, "when things go wrong." (CAS32, $14.99)
	Tracks, A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback  •  Robyn Davidson EXPLORATION •  1995 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES Davidson arrives in the outback with a dog, a little cash, and she manages to find some camels (feral in Australian desert since the 19th century) to carry her on her journey. This absorbing book is her account of her trek across the desert -- a tale of true adventure shot through with a feel for the landscape and empathy for the Aboriginal people she meets along the way. (AUS15, $14.00)
	The Long Way  •  William Rodarmor  •  Bernard Moitessier TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1995 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES The daring adventures of a long-distance French sailor and the first Golden Globe race, where he skipped past the finish line -- continuing on his mostly merry way for another three months. He loved to sail. (WLD35, $16.50)
	Running the Amazon  •  Joe Kane EXPLORATION •  1990 •  PAPER  • 278 PAGES A best-selling account of a 4,000-mile Amazon expedition from high in the Peruvian Andes to the Atlantic by foot, raft and kayak. It's a tale of high adventure, corrupt border guards, itinerant drug smugglers -- and the camaraderie that develops from a difficult job well done. Only four of the original ten participants finished the journey. Much of the story takes place in the little-explored narrow canyons and rapids high above Iquitos in Peru in the headwaters of the Amazon. (AMZ13, $14.00)
	Young Men & Fire  •  Norman MacLean HISTORY •  1993 •  PAPER  • 301 PAGES A lyrical and finely wrought story of the famous Mann Gulch, Montana firestorm, which took the lives of 13 of the elite Smokejumpers of the U.S. Forest Service in August 1949. It is an evocative tale of human error, the great power of nature and the spirit of the American West. (USW95, $16.00)
	Great Plains  •  Ian Frazier TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2001 •  PAPER  • 292 PAGES A marvelously digressive, wide-ranging account of a journey throughout the plains. Frazier captures the wide-open landscapes, history, environmental contradictions and, especially, the legends and people of the Great Plains. An intrepid traveler -- and voracious reader -- Frazier clocked 25,000 miles in an old van criss-crossing the land where the buffalo once roamed. (USW172, $14.00)
	My Journey to Lhasa  •  Alexandra David-Neel TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2005 •  PAPER  • 317 PAGES A reprint of the 1927 classic by the indomitable Buddhist scholar Alexandra David-Neel, with a new preface by the Dalai Lama. Tibet was still closed to the West in 1923, the year that David-Neel and her adopted Tibetan son set out on their wintry trek to Lhasa. Dressed as humble pilgrims and traveling under cover of night, the duo climbed mountains, fooled soldiers and ultimately reached the capital, where they joined the pilgrim throng. David-Neel was not altogether without the prejudices of her European contemporaries, but she was markedly better-educated; and as a result her travelogue is an informed, informative portrait of early twentieth-century Tibet. (TBT26, $14.95)
	Alive, The Story of the Andes Survivors  •  Piers Paul Read TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2002 •  PAPER  • 416 PAGES The gripping tale of survival against all odds: a plane crashes in the Andes, all passengers presumed dead. Read tells the story of terrible hardship, bravery and horror with admirable restraint. Most of the passengers, barely teenagers, were members of a rugby team from Uruguay, and the account includes much insight into Uruguayan culture and society. (AND38, $7.99)
	The Perfect Storm, A True Story of Men Against the Sea  •  Sebastian Junger BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1998 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES A gripping, now-famous blow-by-blow account of a 1991 disaster at sea. Junger reconstructs the final hours of six men aboard a 72-foot swordfish boat in the North Atlantic, battling against a torrential storm. This talented journalist writes well of the sea and its many moods -- the perfect background for a greater appreciation of the life of a fisherman. (OCE06, $6.99)
	A Walk in the Woods  •  Bill Bryson TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1999 •  PAPER  • 276 PAGES Bryson manages to combine biting satire with a certain warmth in all his books, and this one is no exception. He tackles (or tries to, anyway) the whole of the Appalachian trail, starting in Georgia. It's not only a very entertaining read, but a fond memoir and very evocative of some unusual locales. (USE01, $14.95)
	Old Glory, A Voyage Down the Mississippi  •  Jonathan Raban TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1998 •  PAPER  • 409 PAGES Raban tackles the "Mighty Mississippi" aboard a 16-foot motorboat in this entertaining travelogue, featuring places and people he encounters along the way. It's a portrait of contemporary life from Minnesota to Mississippi. (USS42, $15.00)

	Grass Beyond the Mountains, Discovering the Last Great Cattle Frontier on the North American Continent  •  Richard Hobson   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  Hobson's classic memoir of his cross-country trek and pioneering days as a rancher in British Columbia's undiscovered remote north. (CND241, $12.95)
	Mawson's Will, The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written  •  Leonard Bickel   • EXPLORATION  •  The classic tale of Sir Douglas Mawson's 1911 journey back to camp after losing his two men, his dogs, and most of his food and equipment. (ANT121, $15.00)
	No Picnic on Mount Kenya  •  Felice Benuzzi  •  Rick Ridgeway   • EXPLORATION  •  A daring tale of escaping a prisoner of war camp to climb the great mountain. Among the many pleasures of this book are Benuzzi's accounts of landscapes, animals and habitats on the way to the top. (EAF59, $14.95)
	Unexpected Light, Travels in Afghanistan  •  Jason Elliot   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  A vividly reported account of travels in Afghanistan. (CAS74, $18.00)
	White Spider, The Classic Account of the Ascent of the Eiger  •  Heinrich Harrer   • EXPLORATION  •  The classic tale of a young climber and the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger in 1938. This edition includes photographs, maps, and a chronology of attempts on the North Face. (ALP09, $15.95)
	The Ascent of Rum Doodle  •  W. E. Bowman  •  Bill Bryson   • LITERATURE  •  Firmly in the school of offhand, bumbling British exploration, this book is hardly handicapped by the fact that its author had never been near the Himalayas. It's a spoof of British mountaineering. Very funny indeed. (HML55, $13.99)

Here are some other groups of books that might interest you. Click to view a listing:

More Books