True Survival

An epic memoir from a man whose life is defined by exploration and innovation, The Sky Below re-creates some of the most unforgettable adventures of our time. From dramatic, high-risk spacewalks to author Scott Parazynski's death-defying quest to summit Mount Everest - his body ravaged by a career in space - listeners will experience the life of an elite athlete, physician, and explorer.

When a forty-seven-foot sailboat disappears in the Gulf Stream in the throes of a disastrous storm, it leaves behind three weary passengers struggling to stay alive. This middle-grade adaptation of an adult nonfiction book tells the story of the four intrepid Coast Guardsmen who braved this ruthless storm in the hopes of saving them. A spellbinding tale of courage and survival from the author of The Finest Hours.

Kingdom of Wolves–The Journey is a true story of survival and the soul’s journey to freedom, reclamation, redemption, and wholeness of spirit. The author was a silent victim of domestic abuse that spanned a period of three decades; she was not only held captive by her abuser but also her own low self-esteem, fears, and insecurities.

Journalist Nicole Madigan was stalked for over three years. The relentless and debilitating experience wreaked havoc in her personal and professional life, leaving her trapped in a constant state of fear and anxiety. Nicole uses her own story as an entry point to examine the psychology behind stalking behaviours and their impact on victim-survivors. Whether by a stranger, acquaintance or former partner, stalking can have a catastrophic effect on a victim-survivor's mental, social and financial wellbeing. At its worst, it can lead to physical violence, even death.

On a rainy night in December 1938, former Nazi official Max Immanuel climbed into his car in Berlin and set out on a harrowing mission. Over the course of a single night, he planned to travel to the gates of Dachau—Nazi Germany’s first concentration camp—to rescue a Jewish prisoner. Max’s mission was profoundly dangerous, and unusual, because this former Third Reich official was a Jew himself. Born Imanuel Rosenfeld, Max had changed his name and his religion, living in fear that his truth would be discovered.

“You wanna ski a lap?” Fifteen-year-old Cole Walters-Schaler didn’t hesitate. This was why they’d come to the backcountry, after all—three fathers and four teenage children together for a bonding weekend of off-track skiing outside Salida, Colorado, in January 2017. Within minutes, Cole and Brett Beasley, a longtime Forest Service ranger and expert outdoorsman in his mid-forties, had pushed off from their cabin, expecting to be gone for a quick half hour or so.

Relli, a Jewish girl in Poland, was denied a normal childhood. When Relli was just a baby, the Nazis occupied Poland and she, together with her parents, were imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto, a way station before death. Her parents correctly assessed the new situation and decided to act heroically in order to save their only child. They succeeded in smuggling her out of the Ghetto and entrusted her to a Gentile Polish couple who agreed to hide her for the duration of the war under a false identity.

Eva and her identical twin sister, Miriam, had a mostly happy childhood. Theirs was the only Jewish family in their small village in the Transylvanian mountains, but they didn't think much of it until anti-Semitism reared its ugly head in their school. Then, in 1944, ten-year-old Eva and her family were deported to Auschwitz. At its gates, Eva and Miriam were separated from their parents and other siblings, selected as subjects for Dr. Mengele's infamous medical experiments.

In June 1943, after long years of hardship and persecution, 13-year-old Thomas Geve and his mother were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Separated upon arrival, he was left to fend for himself in the men’s camp of Auschwitz I. During 22 harsh months in three camps, Thomas experienced and witnessed the cruel and inhumane world of Nazi concentration and death camps. Nonetheless, he never gave up the will to live. Miraculously, he survived and was liberated from Buchenwald at the age of 15.

What if one moment — one impossible climb — changed everything? At eight years old, Ted Lazaris didn’t climb that towering tree in Milwaukee to be brave. He climbed because something called to him. What followed wasn’t just a fall — it was a moment that defied logic, rewrote destiny, and became the foundation of a lifetime of purpose. When Time Stood Still is a true story of survival, storytelling, and second chances. From near-death experiences to divine interventions, this deeply personal memoir reveals how the most ordinary beginnings can lead to the most extraordinary lives. ...

Back again with even more "mostly true" tales from the trail, Lawton Grinter's new book I Hike Again is sure to find a place in every adventurer's library! I Hike Again imparts hard-earned wisdom from trails both in the United States (Arizona Trail, Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Grand Enchantment Trail, Wind River High Route) and abroad (Spain's GR11 and New Zealand's Te Araroa).

Just three weeks after my 21st birthday, on the evening of October 4, 1994, I was abducted from the streets of my hometown in Southern Russia while on my way home. They drugged me and drove to another country, where they held me captive in a tiny room at first, and then under a house in a pit. A few weeks after my kidnapping, a brutal civil war broke out. Through eight horrifying months of captivity, witnessing atrocities, surviving bombings and sexual violence, I fought desperately to stay alive, stay sane, and not to lose the one thing that kept me going: my hope.

On May 19, 1942, during World War II, a German submarine, a U-boat, in the Gulf of Mexico stalked its prey 50 miles from New Orleans. The submarine set its sights on the freighter Heredia. Most onboard were merchant seamen, but there were also civilians, including the Downs family: Ray and Ina and their two children. Fast asleep in their berths, the Downs family had no idea that two torpedoes were heading their way. When the ship exploded, chaos ensued - and each family member had to find their own path to survival.

No Better Friend tells the incredible true story of Frank Williams, a radarman in Britain's Royal Air Force, and Judy, a purebred pointer, who met as prisoners of war during World War II. Judy, who became the war's only official canine POW, was a fiercely loyal dog who sensed danger - warning her fellow prisoners of imminent attacks and protecting them from brutal beatings. Frank and Judy's friendship, an unbreakable bond forged in the worst circumstances, is one of the great recently unearthed stories of World War II.

Journalist Susan Casey was in her living room when she first glimpsed this strange place and its resident sharks, their dark fins swirling around a tiny boat in a documentary. These great whites were the alphas among alphas, the narrator said, some of them topping 18 feet in length, and each fall they congregated here off the northern California coast.

I have my own survival stories, and maybe this is part of the reason why all these other stories interest me so much. Everyone loves to learn about survival stories because it confirms the importance of the human spirit to live through trying and deadly situations. I’ve included 33 true-life stories in this book. The people in these stories have all illustrated the power of the human spirit to live through difficult experiences.

For more than a century, plane crashes have been among the scariest catastrophes imaginable. The toll on human life is devastating. Yet, as this fascinating book reveals, there are some who defy the odds and survive the unsurvivable. In this riveting collection of true stories from sole survivors, we get an inside look at their harrowing ordeal that changed their lives forever. We get a glimpse of their lives before and after the accident, explore the possible causes of their plane crash, and dive into the haunting yet fascinating details of the fateful day they fell from the sky.

A historical adventure book set in the rugged East Coast of Canada during the early 20th century."Ghost River" delves into the enthralling account of Jean Savage, a resolute Frenchman treacherously maneuvering the biting wilderness to secure sled dogs and later rescue his cherished, Julie Barnes. About the Novel:Jean Savage, dismissing superstitions about the demon-infested Windigo lands, commences a perilous mission to find sled dogs critical for survival during the unforgiving winters at Whale River. His journey takes him into the intimidating areas, a source of dreaded myths amongst the ...

Lola Montez was one of the most celebrated and notorious women of the nineteenth century. A raven-haired Andalusian who performed her scandalous “Spider Dance” in the greatest performance halls across Europe, she dazzled and beguiled all who met her with her astonishing beauty, sexuality, and shocking disregard for propriety. But Lola was an impostor, a self-invention. Born Eliza Gilbert, the beautiful Irish wild child escaped a stifling marriage and reimagined herself as Lola the Sevillian flamenco dancer and noblewoman.

Seven-year-old little girls love their daddy. Kathy was no exception, so when her daddy started paying “special” attention to her, she felt “special” in turn. Her daddy loved her.
Few betrayals run as deep as the betrayal of being sexually abused throughout your childhood by the man you should have been able to trust with your life. For Kathy, the betrayal ran deeper because when she finally found the courage to start speaking out about what her abuser did to her, her family responded by labeling her a liar and a troublemaker. Kathy didn’t stop speaking out, though.