Fifteen gripping tales of determination, strength of mind, perseverance, and fortitude.

Although survival is often taken for granted - something every human strives to achieve on a daily basis - it is just this everyday imperative that makes for the most exciting stories. When something goes wrong, when survival is threatened, often by something as simple and sudden as a boat overturning or a traveler losing his way, this is when the necessity of survival is no longer just another daily chore. This is when something as intrinsic as breathing or swallowing becomes the most essential need and the most sought-after desire.

Lamar Underwood is the former editor-in-chief of Sports Afield and Outdoor Life. Among the books he has authored and edited are The Bass Almanac, On Dangerous Ground, and Whitetail Tactics of the Pros.

Introduction by Lamar Underwood

1. TO BUILD A FIRE by Jack London
2. THE GREAT UNKNOWN by John Wesley Powell,
excerpted from Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Tributaries
3. THE OPEN BOAT by Stephen Crane
4. THE BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND THE PORCUPINE by Mayne Reid
5. ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe,
excerpted from Robinson Crusoe
6. SAILING ALONE AROUND THE WORLD by Captain Joshua Slocum,
excerpted from Sailing Alone Around the World
7. LOVE OF LIFE by Jack London
8. SHIPWRECK OF THE WHALESHIP ESSEX by Owen Chase,
excerpted from Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex
9. AN ADVENTURE WITH A DOG AND A GLACIER by John Muir
10. THE BOAT JOURNEY by Sir Ernest Shackleton,
excerpted from South
11. BATTLE WITH THE GIANT OCTOPUS by Victor Hugo,
excerpted from Toilers of the Sea
12. ENCOUNTER WITH THE BLACKFEET by Osborne Russell,
excerpted from The Journal of a Trapper
13. AROUND THE HORN by Richard Henry Dana, Jr.,
excerpted from Two Years Before the Mast
14. THE WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD by Apsley Cherry-Garrard,
excerpted from The Worst Journey in the World
15. ON DANGEROUS GROUND by Lamar Underwood,
excerpted from the novel On Dangerous Ground