Books about Wilderness from Amazon.com

What would possess a gifted young man recently graduated from college to literally walk away from his life? Noted outdoor writer and mountaineer Jon Krakauer tackles that question in his reporting on Chris McCandless, whose emaciated body was found in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness in 1992.

Described by friends and relatives as smart, literate, compassionate, and funny, did McCandless simply read too much Thoreau and Jack London and lose sight of the dangers of heading into the wilderness alone? Krakauer, whose own adventures have taken him to the perilous heights of Everest, provides some answers by exploring the pull the outdoors, seductive yet often dangerous, has had on his own life..
Price: $7.34 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The SAS Survival Handbook is the Special Air Service's complete course in being prepared for any type of emergency John 'Lofty' Wiseman presents real strategies for surviving in any type of situation, from accidents and escape procedures, including chemical and nuclear to successfully adapting to various climates (polar, tropical, desert), to identifying edible plants and creating fire. The book is extremely practical and is illustrated throughout with easy-to-understand line art and diagrams.

.
Price: $11.19 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In Man vs. Wild, Bear Grylls demonstrates all manner of survival techniques when faced with nature's extremes--from crossing piranha-infested rivers to fighting off grizzly bears. He shows us how, armed with the correct know-how and a determination to stay alive, all of us have the potential to beat the elements in even the bleakest of situations.

Bear Grylls is the ultimate modern-day adventurer. He spent three years with the British Special Forces (21 SAS), only leaving when a near-fatal parachuting accident broke his back in three places. Just two years later, Grylls followed his childhood dream and became one of the youngest climbers ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He is the host of the Discovery Channel series Man vs. Wild, where viewers tune in to watch Grylls show what it takes to find your way out of the most inhospitable places on earth with little more than the clothes on your back.

Now, in his book, he shows his millions of fans worldwide how to do what he does in an utterly entertaining crash course in surviving every kind of hard ecosystem--mountain, sub-zero terrain, jungle, desert, and the sea. Grylls takes readers on a journey to the corners of the earth and recreates disaster scenarios such as being stranded on a desert island or lost in the snowy Arctic. Perfect for armchair adventurers and extreme sports buffs alike, Man vs. Wild is destined to become a classic in adventure literature.

Prepare to learn how to ...

• Snack on maggots
• Dig yourself a shelter from the snow
• Suck the fluid from fish eyeballs
• Skin a snake and eat it
• Use your own urine to cool yourself down
• Live without your cell phone

"When disaster strikes and we find ourselves alone in an unknown and hostile environment, why do some people survive and others perish? Almost all of the most extraordinary tales of survival seem to involve an indefinable Ingredient X, which can only be understood as having its source in that mysterious entity, the `human spirit.'"
--Bear Grylls, Man vs. Wild.
Price: $15.04 [Notify me when price goes down.]

To live in a pristine land . . . roam the wilderness . . . build a home. . . . Thousands have had such dreams, but Richard Proenneke lived them. Here is a tribute to a man who carved his masterpiece out of the beyond..
Price: $9.41 [Notify me when price goes down.]

From one of the finest nature writers at work in America today-a lyrical, dramatic, illuminating tour of the hidden domain of wild animals


Whether recalling the experience of being chased through the Grand Canyon by a bighorn sheep, swimming with sharks off the coast of British Columbia, watching a peregrine falcon perform acrobatic stunts at 200 miles per hour, or engaging in a tense face-off with a mountain lion near a desert waterhole, Craig Childs captures the moment so vividly that he puts the reader in his boots.

Each of the forty brief, compelling narratives in THE ANIMAL DIALOGUES focuses on the author's own encounter with a particular species and is replete with astonishing facts about the species' behavior, habitat, breeding, and lifespan. But the glory of each essay lies in Childs's ability to portray the sometimes brutal beauty of the wilderness, to capture the individual essence of wild creatures, to transport the reader beyond the human realm and deep inside the animal kingdom.
Price: $14.40 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"If you breathe and have a pulse, you NEED this book." -Cody Lundin
(20030814).
Price: $10.39 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A deer in his canoe, a bear attack, a leg stabbed with an arrowhead--it's just another week in the life of 16-year-old Brian Robeson In his opinion, this beats a date at Mackey's Pizza Den, a fight with a bully, and a video game at the mall any day. After having survived a plane crash and 54 days in the Canadian wilderness several years earlier, Brian can't seem to fit into "civilization." The world of high school and family life makes no sense anymore. So Brian begins to plan. It's time to return to the woods. This time, though, he makes no plans to come back home.

Gary Paulsen, the popular author of many critically acclaimed books for young people and winner of the 1997 Margaret A. Edward Award, has written another sequel to the Newbery Honor Book Hatchet. (The River and Brian's Winter were earlier sequels.) Paulsen's graphic and detailed descriptions of Brian's adventures demonstrate a deep familiarity and connection to the wilderness; and in fact the author has spent much of his life in the bush, living almost entirely off the land. Brian's experiences in nature parallel his growing independence and maturity; readers who don't feel like they "fit in" will easily relate to the young protagonist's search for identity and purity. (Ages 11 and older) --Emilie Coulter.
Price: $1.30 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Henry David Thoreau's masterwork, Walden, is a collection of his reflections on life and society His simple but profound musings-as well as "Civil Disobedience," his protest against the government's interference with civil liberty-have inspired many to embrace his philosophy of individualism and love of nature..
Price: $1.68 [Notify me when price goes down.]