Best adventure / feats of human endurance (auto)biographies...

Any suggestions for the best (auto) biographies that you've ever read about people who tackle all the odds and come out on top? All suggestions gratefully received. Thanks

Kon Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl. Not sure what he actually proved in the end, but a brilliant read and a truly inspiring adventure

I have no interest in climbing - especially in very cold, dangerous places - but really enjoyed both 'Touching the Void' by Joe Simpson, and 'Into Thin Air' by Jon Krakaeur. Both filled with excellent reasons to stay on the ground; maybe in a warm, dry pub.

Suggest you try Ernest Shackleton "SOUTH". It's about his last expedition to the South Pole - Antarctica 1914 -1917. He also wrote "Heart of the Antarctic" before "South".

Ernest Shackletons "Endurance ".....is amazing !

Ellen Mac Arthur - Taking on the World.The youngest person to complete yachtings most gruelling race the Vendee Globe. The fastest womam to also circumnavigate the globe.
Furny x

Try Richard Dunwoody's new book recounting his extreme adventures over the last 10 years - North Pole, South Pole, climbing, all sorts of stuff.Method in My Madness: 10 Years Out of the Saddle Moving and funny in places.

I'd thoroughly recommend Survive the Savage Sea by Dougal Robertson Survive the Savage Sea (Sailing Classics) as an excellent story of survival against the odds.

Try 'Just a Little Run Around the World' by Rosie Swale Pope - what an amazing story!!!

ernest shakleton endurance- I loan it to everyone I know who needs a bit of gumption

read Sir Ranulph Fiennes, mad, bad, and dangerous to know. A compelling history of his life, fascinating and touching in parts.
Also, 'the long walk' by slavimir rawich, a true story of escaping the eastern front, and also 'the longest climb' by dominic faulkaner an epic bike ride from the dead sea to walk and conquer everest.

Failing that, you can always fall back on the old classic 'Papillon' by Henri Le Charriere.

Kon Tiki is a fantastic real adventure, could not agree with Doctor Jazz more.

South by Ernest Shackleton, Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy McLean, Barrows Boys by Fergus Fleming - all ripping yarns that will keep you turning the pages all night.
Agree with most of the above too, Kon Tiki is outstanding and Touching the Void an epic which the film doesn't do justice to.

Yeah, read papillon and folllow up banco, very hard to get hold of the latter but try putting them down, they become glued to your hand they are riviting reads. Also if you like success read any auto's by ex sas members, it always allows you to understand the determination of those who generaly win in life.

100% agree with Doctor Jazz. Kon Tiki by Thor Heyerdah is a quality book.

Going Solo by Roald Dahl is a great real adventure story, starts off with him going to work in Africa, finishes with him fighting in the RAF.

I can't remember how I discovered it but The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz was a fantastic read, my copy is very battered from being lent so often.
If you can handle horror in your endurance read, try Primo Levi - If This Is A Man & The Truce. I read Jorge Sempruns - The Cattle Truck many years ago but that story still sticks in my memory.
Ranulph Fiennes is awesome as someone already said, but Mike Strouds Survival Of The Fittest is as equally compelling to read. For a climbing story Heinrich Harrer - 7 Years in Tibet was better than Mr Pitts effort on the silver screen. And how about Alive - Piers Paul Read? The Uruguayan rugby team who crashed in the Andes, all 5 star reviews on Amazon.
Another WW2 I'd recommend is The Railway Man - Eric Lomax.
I'd rather these over a lot of novels.

Fighting for the French Foreign Legion (Memoirs of a Scottish Legionnaire is my autobiography about how I overcame Dyslexia to become an graphic artist, Police Officer (forensic scene of crime examiner), to joining the Legion at the tender young age of 38 and served with thier parachute regiment for 11 years (1983 -1994. This period saw me see active service in Africa, the 1st Gulf War and Bosnia at the height of that crisis in 1993.Fighting for the French Foreign Legion: Memoirs of a Scottish Legionnaire

Rannulph feinnes seems fairly prolific and has been there done it all!

'Shackleton's Forgotten Men'. This tells the story of Shackleton's second team on his 1915 Antarctic expedition. They were sent in advance to provide support for his own expedition that would follow. They encountered similar problems to Shackleton (lost their boat and all supplies) but strived to complete their mission unaware that their the main mission had been abandoned. An excellent very readable book.

Redmond O'Hanlons journeys are not to be missed....try IN TROUBLE AGAIN and CONGO JOURNEY - you'll miss them when they are over. Agree with others too - Kon Tiki a classic, and Touching the Void unforgettable. For a spiritual and geographcial trip, read Robert MacFarlanes THE WILD PLACES. Finally, yes, Bill Bryson for laughs and super observations.

Conni

I absolutely agree with you. "Endurance" is a book that keeps you reading right to the very end. Brilliant!

Have read it ( and own it )...an excellent read

The Long Walk...brilliant and very moving book. My copy is also dog eared now as so many of my friends have borrowed it. A book I constantly re-read.

Just finished reading 'Just a Little Run Around the World: 5 Years, 3 Packs of Wolves and 53 Pairs of Shoes' by Rosie Swale-Pope, an incredibly inspiring read about a lady from Wales who lost her husband to cancer so decided to run around the world to raise cancer awareness, an amazing book!!! :)