Yak

From the shady depths of Yosemite Valley to the top of 14,505-foot Mount Whitney through some of the most treacherous and starkly beautiful terrain on the planet, this memoir is both a thrilling adventure (complete with bear encounters and snowstorms) as well as a poignant look into the mind and spirit of an athlete who is nothing if not human.

The prowess and loyalty of the great knight William Marshal have been rewarded by the hand in marriage of Isabelle de Clare. William has weathered the difficult years of King Richard's absence on crusade and is currently serving him on campaign in Normandy. But the stability William and Isabelle have enjoyed comes crashing down as Richard dies and his brother John becomes king. Rebellion stirs throughout the Angevin domains, and William and Isabelle distance themselves in Ireland.

Here is the astonishing, never-before-told story of the greatest rescue mission of World War II: when the OSS set out to recover more than 500 airmen trapped behind enemy lines. During a bombing campaign, hundreds of American airmen were shot down in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. Local Serbian villagers risked their own lives to give refuge to the soldiers, and for months the airmen lived in hiding, waiting for rescue.