Explorer Memoirs

In 1941, a young Harvard-educated classicist named Varian Fry arrived in occupied France on a daring mission to rescue more than 2,000 of Europe's leading writers, artists, and intellectuals from the Nazis. Hounded by the Gestapo, he smuggled Marchel Duchamp, Marc Chagall, Hannah Arendt and dozens of other 20th century cultural luminaries out of France and brought them to America. So why did even the people Fry saved want to forget him?

Exploration of the early American West, beginning with Lewis and Clark’s transcontinental trek at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson, was not accomplished by standing armies, the era’s new steam train technology, or by way of land grabs. These came later, but not until pathways known only to a few of the land’s indigenous people were discovered, carved out, and charted in an area stretching from the eastern Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and the present-day borders of Mexico and Canada.

Rebecca Rusch has run the gauntlet of endurance sports over her career as a professional athlete—climbing, adventure racing, whitewater rafting, cross-country skiing, and mountain biking—racking up accolades and world championships along the way.

Discover the remarkable life of Daniel Boone... Daniel Boone is one of those figures in American history whose life often intertwines with myths and legends. While numerous tall tales surround this American adventurer, many of his greatest feats are actually true. They are not merely artifacts of folklore—they genuinely happened. Daniel Boone really did blaze a trail through the Cumberland Gap into the western frontier. He really did become initiated as a member of the Shawnee (who gave him the name “Big Turtle”), and he really did serve under Revolutionary War General George Rogers Clark.

In this riveting memoir, renowned mountaineer Lou Dawson shares a tumultuous coming-of-age journey, from the flatlands of Texas to the Colorado mountains, steeped in the counterculture revolution of the 1960s. Amidst the towering peaks, Lou discovers an enduring love for alpine sports: rock climbing, topping summits, skiing powder snow. However, as the avalanches fall and lifestyle choices veer, his pursuit of adrenaline becomes a poignant struggle for meaning in a culture where nothing succeeds like excess.

Die HMS Erebus war eines der wichtigsten Forschungsschiffe ihrer Zeit, ihre Expeditionen galten als bahnbrechend. Im Jahr 1848 verschwand sie spurlos in der Arktis - 2014 wurde sie gefunden. Dies ist ihre Geschichte - voller Aufbruchsgeist und Entdeckerlust, Abenteuer, Tragödien, Mut und Menschheitsgeschichte, mitreißend geschildert von niemand geringerem als Michael Palin: Monty-Python-Star, Weltreisender und begnadeter Erzähler.

No verão de 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton parte a bordo do Endurance em direção ao Atlântico Sul. O objetivo de sua expedição era cruzar o continente antártico, passando pelo Pólo Sul. Mas, a apenas um dia do ponto de desembarque planejado, o Endurance fica aprisionado num banco de gelo no mar de Weddell e acaba sendo destruído. Através dos diários e entrevistas com alguns membros da expedição, Alfred Lansing reconstrói as dificuldades que a tripulação do Endurance enfrentou.

On May 22, 2010, at the age of 13, American teenager Jordan Romero became the youngest person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest. At 15, he became the youngest person to reach the summits of the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. In this energizing memoir for young adults, Jordan recounts his experience, which started as a spark of an idea at the age of nine and, many years of training and hard work later, turned into a dream come true.

Travel to the top of the world’s highest mountains with this this riveting and uplifting memoir that “is a rare mix of heart-stopping adventure and powerful self-reflection” (Johanna Garton, author of Edge of the Map) by Vanessa O’Brien, record-breaking American British explorer. Long...

No American president has been more enthusiastic in appreciating the wilderness and in conserving our nation’s natural treasures than Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919). And no other president wrote more about nature and his explorations of it than T. R., in scattered books, such as African Wilderness, and in his countless letters, including those collected in The Selected Letters of Theodore Roosevelt).

Serendipity placed David Johnston on Mount St. Helens when the volcano rumbled to life in March 1980. Throughout that ominous spring, Johnston was part of a team conducting scientific research that underpinned warnings about the mountain. Those warnings saved thousands of lives when the most devastating volcanic eruption in U.S. history blew apart Mount St. Helens but killed Johnston on the ridge that now bears his name. Melanie Holmes tells the story of Johnston's journey from a nature-loving Boy Scout to a committed geologist.

An alphabetical romp through a lifetime of hair-breadth escape, dire danger, and even bizarre and unusual misadventure. The author is an ambassador of the Kingdom of God and this has painted a target on his back for the forces of darkness from early childhood. You will thrill to the tales of terror, laugh uproariously at hilarious circumstances and lightheartedly humorous storytelling style, and find your own faith in God's care and protection growing with every chapter.

In Oakland Hills, Milwaukee Rivers: A Memoir of Survival, Identity, and Purpose, Dr. Keyimani L. Alford opens the door to his most vulnerable truths. From the quiet knock that changed his life to the fractured moments of family, faith, and identity, this second edition goes deeper than ever before—expanded with new chapters, fresh reflections, and the lasting legacy of Aunt Grace. You’ll walk through his hills—the weight of struggle, abandonment, and silence—and cross his rivers—the grace of healing, resilience, and purpose.

Aspen’s and Justin’s paths serendipitously aligned on the Pacific Crest Trail when both were walking from Mexico to Canada, separately and alone - both using thru-hiking in hopes of escaping their pasts. Both sought to redefine themselves beneath the stars. By the time they made it to the snowy Cascade Range of British Columbia - the trail’s end - Aspen and Justin were in love.

Home from Distant Seas completes the trilogy of books by James Baldwin recounting his 25 years of live-aboard cruising adventures. The author creates a tribute to the sea and to those who venture upon her in small voyaging sailboats as he describes his personal journey of survival and discovery at sea as well as the sailors and local people he met along the way. Continuing here with the memoir of his second adventurous circumnavigation begun in his earlier books Bound for Distant Seas and The Next Distant Sea.

Heidi's story is extraordinary. Imagine being 540 miles from land, with nothing but water in sight, and then experiencing every pilot's worst nightmare - a complete engine failure. Heidi's fixed-gear Cessna bounced off the ocean's surface, flipped onto its back, and began to sink. What followed was a nine-hour ordeal, battling 10-foot seas in a tiny life raft, with the shadow of the Cold War looming as she was finally rescued by a Soviet vessel.

Brendan Cullen manages Kars Station, a 10,000-head sheep property 65 kilometres outside Broken Hill, New South Wales. In 2022, despite his nearest beach being more than 600 kilometres away, he swam the English Channel. Taking up swimming was part of Brendan's recovery from severe depression, an illness that had seen him cope in highly unhealthy ways–drinking, overwork, being emotionally absent–for years. But then he found the strength to walk through the doors of Broken Hill Hospital and ask for help.

It was November 1806. The explorers had gone without food for one day, then two. Their leader, not yet thirty, drove on, determined to ascend the great mountain. Waist deep in snow, he reluctantly turned back. But Zebulon Pike had not been defeated. His name remained on the unclimbed peak-and new adventures lay ahead of him and his republic. In Citizen Explorer, historian Jared Orsi provides the first modern biography of this soldier and explorer, who rivaled contemporaries Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

In May of 1973, a group of eight divers embarked on an exploration of a sink hole in Australia, since named The Shaft. Unfortunately, their expedition took a horrifying turn. Only four would return alive.

At forty-five, Becky Jensen was raising two sons, engaged to be married, living the dream in Colorado. She was also suicidal and had no idea why. What did she have to be depressed about? The question haunted Jensen, leading her to take a bold step: to hike the five-hundred-mile Colorado Trail in search of answers. Leaving responsibility behind, Jensen shouldered a backpack loaded with camping gear, her father’s ashes, and the heavy expectations of womanhood—trudging off alone into no man’s land.