Extreme Classics: The 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

National Geographic Adventure Magazine, 101 Books

The 100 greatest adventure books chosen by National Geographic.

This list was originally published in 2004 and was added to this site over 12 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
979 The Worst Journey in the World Apsley Cherry-Garrard 1922 British English
2301 Journals Meriwether Lewis, William Clark 1804 American English
1470 Wind, Sand and Stars Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 1939 French French
15726 The Exploration of the Colorado River John Wesley Powell 1875 American English
5372 Arabian Sands Wilfred Thesiger 1959 British English
7765 Annapurna Maurice Herzog 1951 French French
2107 Desert Solitaire Edward Abbey 1968 American English
1981 West With the Night Beryl Markham 1942 British English
2425 Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer 1997 American English
1244 The Travels of Marco Polo Marco Polo 1300 Italian Old french
1786 Farthest North Fridtjof Nansen 1897 Norwegian Norwegian
1224 The Snow Leopard Peter Matthiessen 1978 American English
3313 Roughing It Mark Twain 1872 American English
4789 Two Years Before the Mast Richard Henry Dana 1840 American English
15752 South Ernest Shackleton 1919 British English
5324 A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush Eric Newby 1958 British English
1075 The Kon-Tiki Expedition Thor Heyerdahl 1948 Norwegian Norwegian
15760 Travels in West Africa Mary Kingsley 1897 British English
2094 The Spirit of St. Louis Charles Lindbergh 1953 American English
1098 Seven Years in Tibet Heinrich Harrer 1952 Austrian German
11531 Journals (Cook) James Cook 1768 British English
14761 The Home Of The Blizzard Douglas Mawson 1914 Australian English
1727 The Voyage of the Beagle Charles Darwin 1839 British English
541 The Seven Pillars of Wisdom T. E. Lawrence 1926 British English
11533 Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa Mungo Park 1799 British English
3618 The Right Stuff Tom Wolfe 1979 American English
2669 Sailing Alone Around the World Joshua Slocum 1900 Canadian English
17162 The Mountain of My Fear David Roberts 1968 American English
17162 Deborah David Roberts 1970 American Unknown
15843 First Footsteps in East Africa Richard Burton 1856 British English
3261 The Perfect Storm Sebastian Junger 1997 American English
5857 The Oregon Trail Francis Parkman 1849 American English
15862 Through the Dark Continent Henry M. Stanley 1878 British English
6492 A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains Isabella L. Bird 1879 British English
15881 In the Land of White Death Valerian Albanov 1917 Russian Russian
15888 Endurance F. A. Worsley 1931 British English
15900 Scrambles Amongst the Alps Edward Whymper 1871 British English
416 Out of Africa Isak Dinesen 1937 Danish Danish
16501 Scott's Last Expedition Apsley Cherry-Garrard 1922 British English
17162 Everest Thomas Hornbein 1965 American English
16511 Journey Without Maps Graham Greene 1936 British English
16521 Starlight and Storm Gaston Rébuffat 1954 French French
5322 My First Summer in the Sierra John Muir 1911 American English
16536 My Life as an Explorer Sven Hedin 1925 Swedish Swedish
17162 In Trouble Again Redmond O'Hanlon 1988 British English
14967 The Man Who Walked Through Time Colin Fletcher 1968 American English
16585 K2 The Savage Mountain Charles Houston, Robert Bates 1954 American English
17162 Gipsy Moth Circles the World Francis Chichester 1967 British English
2773 Man-Eaters of Kumaon Jim Corbett 1944 British English
14858 Alone Richard Byrd 1938 American English
17162 Stranger in the Forest Eric Hansen 1988 American English
2775 Travels in Arabia Deserta Charles M. Doughty 1888 British English
16635 The Royal Road to Romance Richard Halliburton 1925 American English
14899 The Long Walk Slavomir Rawicz 1956 Polish English
16671 Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada Clarence King 1872 American English
14161 My Journey to Lhasa Alexandra David-Neel 1927 French French
14859 Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile John Hanning Speke 1863 British English
17162 Running the Amazon Joe Kane 1989 American English
14983 Alive Piers Paul Read 1974 British English
16724 The Principal Navigations Richard Hakluyt 1589 British English
16731 Incidents of Travel in Yucatan James Stephens 1843 American English
16744 Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex Owen Chase 1821 American English
16754 Life in the Far West George Frederick Ruxton 1849 British English
16766 My Life As an Explorer (Amundsen) Roald Amundsen 1927 Norwegian Norwegian
6453 News from Tartary Peter Fleming 1936 British English
9542 Annapurna Arlene Blum 1980 American English
16785 Mutiny on the Bounty William Bligh 1932 British English
17162 Adrift Steven Callahan 1986 American English
16837 Castaways Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca 1542 Spanish Spanish
14985 Touching the Void Joe Simpson 1988 British English
8357 Tracks Robyn Davidson 1980 Australian English
16854 The Adventures of Captain Bonneville Washington Irving 1837 American English
14985 Cooper's Creek Alan Moorehead 1963 Australian English
17162 The Fearful Void Geoffrey Moorhouse 1974 British English
14881 No Picnic on Mount Kenya Felice Benuzzi 1947 Italian Italian
16891 Through the Brazilian Wilderness Theodore Roosevelt 1914 American English
1163 The Road to Oxiana Robert Byron 1937 British English
17162 Minus 148 Art Davidson 1969 American English
10658 The Travels of Ibn Battutah Ibn Battúta 1355 Moroccan Arabic
17162 Jaguars Ripped My Flesh Tim Cahill 1987 American English
16943 Journal of a Trapper Osborne Russell 1921 American English
14981 Full Tilt Dervla Murphy 1965 Irish English
17162 Terra Incognita Sara Wheeler 1996 British English
14899 We Die Alone David Howarth 1955 British English
16987 Kabloona Gontran de Poncins 1941 French French
17162 Conquistadors of the Useless Lionel Terray 1961 French French
14985 Carrying the Fire Michael Collins 1974 American English
17020 Adventures in the Wilderness William H. H. Murray 1869 American English
17162 The Mountains of My Life Walter Bonatti 1998 Italian Italian
3140 Great Heart James West Davidson, John Rugge 1988 American English
17047 Journal of the Voyage to the Pacific Alexander Mackenzie 1801 Canadian English
14170 The Valleys of the Assassins Freya Stark 1934 British English
3857 The Silent World Jacques Cousteau 1953 French French
17162 Alaska Wilderness Robert Marshall 1956 American English
17086 Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Conditions of the North American Indians George Catlin 1841 American English
17098 I Married Adventure Osa Johnson 1940 American English
17112 The Descent of Pierre Saint-Martin Norbert Casteret 1952 French French
17162 The Crystal Horizon Reinhold Messner 1989 Italian German
17130 Narrative of a Journey Across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River John Kirk Townsend 1839 American English
14985 Grizzly Years Doug Peacock 1990 American English
17162 One Man's Mountains Tom Patey 1971 British English