Denali's Howl
by Andy Hall | 
Shattered Air
by Bob Madgic | 
A Voyage For Madmen
by Peter Nichols | 
Godforsaken Sea
by Derek Lundy | 
Sailing Alone Around the World
by Joshua Slocum | 
Gipsy Moth Circles the World
by Francis Chichester | 
Death in the Long Grass
by Peter Hathaway Capstick | 
Death in the Dark Continent
by Peter Hathaway Capstick | 
How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It
by James Wesley Rawles |
No Way Down
by Graham Bowley | 
Lost on a Mountain in Maine
by Donn Fendler | 
Seized: A Sea Captain's Adventures Battling Scoundrels and Pirates While Recovering Stolen Ships in the World's Most Troubled Waters
by Max Hardberger | 
Rascals In Paradise
by James A. Michener | 
Into Africa
by Martin Dugard | 
Annapurna
by Maurice Herzog | 
Farther Than Any Man
by Martin Dugard | 
Into Thin Air
by Jon Krakauer | 
Alive
by Piers Paul Read | 
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
by David Grann | 
South
by Ernest Shackleton |
On December 26, 1998, 115 sailboats set out on the annual race from Sydney to Hobart; only 43 would make it to the Tasmanian city, the race having turned into the worst modern sailing disaster since the 1979 Fastnet Race. Combining the best elements of The Perfect Storm (W.W. Norton, 1997) and Barbarians at the Gate (HarperCollins, 1990), "The Proving Ground" is a gripping narrative that follows the fates of three yachts, including Sayonara, owned by Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle. From the chilling explanation of how an Olympic sailor came to be catapulted from a yacht and why its crew could do nothing to save him, to the dramatic journeys of two leaky life-rafts, "The Proving Ground" is an exhilarating read.