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
2300 Journals Meriwether Lewis, William Clark 1804 American English
1470 Wind, Sand and Stars Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 1939 French French
15718 The Exploration of the Colorado River John Wesley Powell 1875 American English
5370 Arabian Sands Wilfred Thesiger 1959 British English
7763 Annapurna Maurice Herzog 1951 French French
2105 Desert Solitaire Edward Abbey 1968 American English
1981 West With the Night Beryl Markham 1942 British English
2423 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
4787 Two Years Before the Mast Richard Henry Dana 1840 American English
15741 South Ernest Shackleton 1919 British English
5322 A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush Eric Newby 1958 British English
1075 The Kon-Tiki Expedition Thor Heyerdahl 1948 Norwegian Norwegian
15752 Travels in West Africa Mary Kingsley 1897 British English
2093 The Spirit of St. Louis Charles Lindbergh 1953 American English
1098 Seven Years in Tibet Heinrich Harrer 1952 Austrian German
11528 Journals (Cook) James Cook 1768 British English
14759 The Home Of The Blizzard Douglas Mawson 1914 Australian English
1728 The Voyage of the Beagle Charles Darwin 1839 British English
541 The Seven Pillars of Wisdom T. E. Lawrence 1926 British English
11529 Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa Mungo Park 1799 British English
3618 The Right Stuff Tom Wolfe 1979 American English
2668 Sailing Alone Around the World Joshua Slocum 1900 Canadian English
17117 The Mountain of My Fear David Roberts 1968 American English
17117 Deborah David Roberts 1970 American Unknown
15829 First Footsteps in East Africa Richard Burton 1856 British English
3260 The Perfect Storm Sebastian Junger 1997 American English
5854 The Oregon Trail Francis Parkman 1849 American English
15849 Through the Dark Continent Henry M. Stanley 1878 British English
6490 A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains Isabella L. Bird 1879 British English
15863 In the Land of White Death Valerian Albanov 1917 Russian Russian
15872 Endurance F. A. Worsley 1931 British English
15881 Scrambles Amongst the Alps Edward Whymper 1871 British English
416 Out of Africa Isak Dinesen 1937 Danish Danish
16483 Scott's Last Expedition Apsley Cherry-Garrard 1922 British English
17117 Everest Thomas Hornbein 1965 American English
16492 Journey Without Maps Graham Greene 1936 British English
16499 Starlight and Storm Gaston Rébuffat 1954 French French
5320 My First Summer in the Sierra John Muir 1911 American English
16514 My Life as an Explorer Sven Hedin 1925 Swedish Swedish
17117 In Trouble Again Redmond O'Hanlon 1988 British English
14965 The Man Who Walked Through Time Colin Fletcher 1968 American English
16559 K2 The Savage Mountain Charles Houston, Robert Bates 1954 American English
17117 Gipsy Moth Circles the World Francis Chichester 1967 British English
2772 Man-Eaters of Kumaon Jim Corbett 1944 British English
14857 Alone Richard Byrd 1938 American English
17117 Stranger in the Forest Eric Hansen 1988 American English
2774 Travels in Arabia Deserta Charles M. Doughty 1888 British English
16599 The Royal Road to Romance Richard Halliburton 1925 American English
14896 The Long Walk Slavomir Rawicz 1956 Polish English
16636 Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada Clarence King 1872 American English
14161 My Journey to Lhasa Alexandra David-Neel 1927 French French
14856 Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile John Hanning Speke 1863 British English
17117 Running the Amazon Joe Kane 1989 American English
14980 Alive Piers Paul Read 1974 British English
16684 The Principal Navigations Richard Hakluyt 1589 British English
16695 Incidents of Travel in Yucatan James Stephens 1843 American English
16706 Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex Owen Chase 1821 American English
16717 Life in the Far West George Frederick Ruxton 1849 British English
16724 My Life As an Explorer (Amundsen) Roald Amundsen 1927 Norwegian Norwegian
6451 News from Tartary Peter Fleming 1936 British English
9537 Annapurna Arlene Blum 1980 American English
16743 Mutiny on the Bounty William Bligh 1932 British English
17117 Adrift Steven Callahan 1986 American English
16793 Castaways Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca 1542 Spanish Spanish
14983 Touching the Void Joe Simpson 1988 British English
8355 Tracks Robyn Davidson 1980 Australian English
16813 The Adventures of Captain Bonneville Washington Irving 1837 American English
14983 Cooper's Creek Alan Moorehead 1963 Australian English
17117 The Fearful Void Geoffrey Moorhouse 1974 British English
14878 No Picnic on Mount Kenya Felice Benuzzi 1947 Italian Italian
16848 Through the Brazilian Wilderness Theodore Roosevelt 1914 American English
1163 The Road to Oxiana Robert Byron 1937 British English
17117 Minus 148 Art Davidson 1969 American English
10652 The Travels of Ibn Battutah Ibn Battúta 1355 Moroccan Arabic
17117 Jaguars Ripped My Flesh Tim Cahill 1987 American English
16901 Journal of a Trapper Osborne Russell 1921 American English
14978 Full Tilt Dervla Murphy 1965 Irish English
17117 Terra Incognita Sara Wheeler 1996 British English
14896 We Die Alone David Howarth 1955 British English
16950 Kabloona Gontran de Poncins 1941 French French
17117 Conquistadors of the Useless Lionel Terray 1961 French French
14983 Carrying the Fire Michael Collins 1974 American English
16984 Adventures in the Wilderness William H. H. Murray 1869 American English
17117 The Mountains of My Life Walter Bonatti 1998 Italian Italian
3139 Great Heart James West Davidson, John Rugge 1988 American English
17006 Journal of the Voyage to the Pacific Alexander Mackenzie 1801 Canadian English
14169 The Valleys of the Assassins Freya Stark 1934 British English
3858 The Silent World Jacques Cousteau 1953 French French
17117 Alaska Wilderness Robert Marshall 1956 American English
17043 Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Conditions of the North American Indians George Catlin 1841 American English
17053 I Married Adventure Osa Johnson 1940 American English
17066 The Descent of Pierre Saint-Martin Norbert Casteret 1952 French French
17117 The Crystal Horizon Reinhold Messner 1989 Italian German
17078 Narrative of a Journey Across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River John Kirk Townsend 1839 American English
14983 Grizzly Years Doug Peacock 1990 American English
17117 One Man's Mountains Tom Patey 1971 British English