Non-fiction human endeavour recommendations please
Discussion
Like many here I've run out of books to read. I particularly like non-fiction extraordinary human adventure. To set the scene I really enjoyed, Into Thin Air-Jon Krakauer, Castaway-Steve Callaghan, Hero Found, Touching the Void-Joe Simpson. Etc etc
Usually humans surviving terrible experiences!
Any pointers gratefully received.
Usually humans surviving terrible experiences!
Any pointers gratefully received.
Maurice Herzog - Annapurna
A book about the claimed first ascent of Annapurna I.
Graham Bowley - No Way Down - Life and Death on K2
A book about the claimed first ascent of Annapurna I.
Graham Bowley - No Way Down - Life and Death on K2
And if that whets your appetite "Safe return doubtful" by John Maxtone-GrahamRizzoTheRat said:
The Long Walk by Slawomir Rawicz
There's a fair bit of evidence that it's not actually a true story but it's a very good read supposedly written Polish Cavalry officer who was part of a group that escaped from a Siberian labour camp and walking to India.
Great book though whether true or false. ^^^There's a fair bit of evidence that it's not actually a true story but it's a very good read supposedly written Polish Cavalry officer who was part of a group that escaped from a Siberian labour camp and walking to India.
OP, I haven't read it but you could try the Alive book about the rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes.
northwest monkey said:
"Endurance" by Albert Lansing - the story of Ernest Shackleton.
Yes.Add 'South' , Shackleton's own account, to the list.
Others I have enjoyed include literally everything by Thor Heyerdahl - the years in Polynesia; the Kontiki expedition, the Ra Expeditions and others; Enemy Coast Ahead Guy Gibson; Das Boot, Lars-Günther Bucheim; The Lonely Sea and the Sky - Sir Francis Chichester's memoirs; and especially Pepys' Diary.
Does the last fit the requirement of 'human endeavour?' I'd say so; Samuel Pepys lived, and closely documented, an astonishing 10 year period of English history from the Rump parliament through to Restoration, through the Great Fire of London; discussion with Robert Hooke; the fear of Plague and war with the Dutch navy (inc a description of the raid on the Medway); and his own dalliances and the daily frustrations of administering a Navy under cost pressures. Candid, and delightful.
ETA: The White Spider, already mentioned above, is excellent. Seven Years in Tibet also belongs on this list. And if you can find it, The Man who bought a Navy - about the character who recovered the German Fleet scuppered in Scapa Flow after 1919 - is a cracking read that covers some really ingenious engineering.
Edited by Huff on Monday 21st September 20:25
RizzoTheRat said:
The Long Walk by Slawomir Rawicz
There's a fair bit of evidence that it's not actually a true story but it's a very good read supposedly written Polish Cavalry officer who was part of a group that escaped from a Siberian labour camp and walking to India.
I'm reading this just now on Kindle following on from your recommendation. I'm about half way through and enjoying it.There's a fair bit of evidence that it's not actually a true story but it's a very good read supposedly written Polish Cavalry officer who was part of a group that escaped from a Siberian labour camp and walking to India.
A couple of War memoirs I would really recommend are Heinz Knoke's "I Flew for the Fuhrer" and Somme Mud by EPF Lynch. The former is a fantastic account of a Luftwaffe pilot in WW2 which shows an interestingly different point of view from the usual RAF memoirs; the latter a WW1 memoir by an Aussie soldier which I found fascinating.
Survive The Savage Sea by Dougal Robertson was a good read too.
Survive The Savage Sea by Dougal Robertson was a good read too.
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