Best of
Adventure

1956

The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom


Slavomir Rawicz - 1956
    The harrowing true tale of seven escaped Soviet prisoners who desperately marched out of Siberia through China, the Gobi Desert, Tibet, and over the Himalayas to British India.

Shadow of the Moon


M.M. Kaye - 1956
    SHADOW OF THE MOON is the story of Winter de Ballesteros, a beautiful English heiress come home to her beloved India. It is also the tale of Captain Alex Randall, her protector, who aches to possess her. Forged in the fires of a war that threatens to topple an empire, their tale is the saga of a desperate and unforgettable love that consumes all in its thrall. Filled with the mystery of moonlit palace gardens and the whisperings of passion and intrigue, M. M. Kaye evokes an era at once of its time, yet timeless."Another splendid tale of India." (Wall Street Journal)

Angelique


Anne Golon - 1956
    Angélique de Sance de Monteloup, a vibrant twelve-year-old tomboy, is the daughter of a simple nobleman impoverished by taxes and other burdens. Angélique joins the local peasant children in their games, ranges the ancient forests and swamps of Poitou and when bandits visit destruction and rapine on the humble villagers, our heroine's leadership qualities come to the fore for the first time. The book also tells of Angélique's first meetings with two crucial characters - King Louis XIV of France and Joffrey. One of the scenes in the book sees Angélique and Joffrey attend the wedding of Louis XIV and his queen, Marie-Therese. As Angélique and Joffrey tangle with powerful forces, it is a classic and gripping adventure story, but we also learn about the couple's tender and often unpredictable relationship. The climax of the book is a decision by the French court which has an impact on the whole of the rest of the story - destined to move to the dangerous streets of Paris for the second book...

The Drunken Forest


Gerald Durrell - 1956
    With Durrell for interpreter, an orange armadillo, or a horned toad, or a crab-eating raccoon, or a baby giant anteater suddenly discovers the ability not merely to set you laughing but actually to endear itself to you.ContentsExplanationSaludos1. Oven-birds and burrowing owls2. Eggbert and the Terrible TwinsInterlude3. Fields of flying flowers4. The orange armadillos5. Bevy of bichos6. Fawns, frogs, and fer-de-lance7. Terrible toads and a bushel of birds8. The four-eyed bird and the anaconda9. Sarah Huggersack10. Rattlesnakes and revolutionInterlude11. The Rhea HuntAdios!Acknowledgements

Rasmus and the Vagabond


Astrid Lindgren - 1956
    Dreaming of a home of his own, Rasmus runs away from the orphanage and meets Paradise Oscar, a remarkable tramp who takes Rasmus along on his travels, where they encounter adventure from both robbers and police.

The Last Grain Race


Eric Newby - 1956
    The four-masted barque Moshulu ended up as a dockside restaurant in Philadelphia; the young apprentice went on to become one of the greatest travel writers of this century. The Last Grain Race is Eric Newby's spell-binding account of his time spent on the Moshulu's last voyage in the Australian grain trade.As always, Eric Newby's sharp eye for detail captures the hardships, danger, squabbles, companionship and sheer joy of shipboard life - bedbugs, ferocious storms, eccentric Finnish crew and all. By pure chance, Eric witnessed the passing of the era of sail, and his tale is all the more significant for being the last of its kind.

The 101 Dalmatians


Dodie Smith - 1956
    With their human owners, the Dearlys, to look after them, they lived in a comfortable home in London with their 15 adorable Dalmatian puppies, loved and admired by all. Especially the Dearlys' neighbor Cruella de Vil, a fur-fancying fashion plate with designs on the Dalmatians' spotted coats! So, when the puppies are stolen from the Dearly home, and even Scotland Yard is unable to find them, Pongo and Missis know they must take matters into their own paws! The delightful children's classic adapted twice for popular Disney productions. Ages 8-11

The Golden Ocean


Patrick O'Brian - 1956
    Sailing through poorly charted waters, Anson and his men encountered disaster, disease, and astonishing success. They circumnavigated the globe and seized a nearly incalcuable sum of Spanish gold and silver, but only one of the five ships survived.This is the background to the first novel Patrick O'Brian ever wrote about the sea, a precursor to the acclaimed Aubrey/Maturin series that shares the excitement and rich humor of those books. The protagonist is Peter Palafox, son of a poor Irish parson, who signs on as a midshipman, never before having seen a ship. Together with his lifelong friend Sean, Peter sets out to seek his fortune, embarking upon a journey of danger, disappointment, foreign lands, and excitement.Here is a tale certain to please not only admirers of O'Brian's work but also any reader with an adventurous soul.

Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage: The Lonely Challenge


Hermann Buhl - 1956
    Autobiography of Hermann Buhl, whose solo, unaided climb of Nanga Parbat is thought to be a greater achievement than Hillary and Tenzing's climb on Everest.

The Adventures of Robin Hood


Roger Lancelyn Green - 1956
    He takes refuge with his Merrie Men in the vast Sherwood Forest, emerging time and again to outwit his enemies with daring and panache. This book presents the story of social justice and cunning.

Up Periscope


Robb White - 1956
    U.S. Submarine 'Shark' is gliding through enemy waters on a dangerous mission. Ken Braden, young officer just out of the Underwater Demolition School, has to swim ashore to a Jap-held island, photograph a code and get back to the patrolling sub. - without detection. This is one of the most exciting sea-stories of all time, written by a man who knows all about action.

Viking's Dawn


Henry Treece - 1956
    They come to grief on an island in the Hebrides.

The Red Planet


Charles Chilton - 1956
    

Escape from Warsaw


Ian Serraillier - 1956
    Now they are alone. With the war raging around them, food and shelter are hard to come by. They live in constant fear.Finally, they get word that their father is alive. He has made it to Switzerland. Edek and Ruth are determined to find him, though they know how dangerous the long trip from Warsaw will be. But they also know that if they don't make it, they may never see their parents again.Their gripping story is taken from actual accounts.

Dangerous Island


Helen Mather-Smith Mindlin - 1956
    When the mooring on their raft breaks loose from the Jersey shore, three young children, two boys and a girl, are carried out to sea and become castaways on the most amazing island.

Red Falcons Of Tremoine (Living History Library)


Hendry Peart - 1956
    He knows nothing of his parentage and has little hope for a future outside the familiar but sometimes restrictive monastery walls. Abbot Michael alone knows Leo's story and family line and unexpectedly, when the heir to the house of Wardlock is killed in the Crusades, he sets in motion events in which Leo will need every scrap of wisdom and endurance. For he is not only heir to Wardlock, but also to its rival?the house of Tr?moine! Vividly set in the pious but turbulent England of the twelfth-century this authentic and stirring tale of suffering and courage shows a boy who?to claim his heritage?must first see it transformed by the power of love and forgiveness.Ages 10 and up

Stars Of Fortune


Cynthia Harnett - 1956
    Discovery would mean death on the scaffold for the Washington boys - but they are willing to risk everything to help the beautiful Princess Elizabeth.

The Heart of the Hunter


Edison Marshall - 1956
    Marshall tells the story of how he came to be a world-renowned hunter, from his days shooting rabbits and ducks in rural Indiana to his numerous worldwide escapades, killing dangerous game such as lions, tigers, and water buffalo.

Baron Bagge / Count Luna


Alexander Lernet-Holenia - 1956
    Two short novels deal with the experiences of a military officer at the close of World War I, and with the guilt of an industrialist who inadvertently causes Count Luna to be sent to a concentration camp in war-torn Europe.

Return Ticket


Anthony Deane-Drummond - 1956
    This contention is certainly borne out by the experiences of Anthony Deane-Drummond, so simply and yet so convincingly told in RETURN TICKET. Deane-Drummond was one of the first parachutists to land in enemy Italy on a raid in 1941, and was taken prisoner after his mission was completed. Twice he made ingenious and daring escapes;once from a prison and once from a military hospital. On each occasion he reached the heavily guarded Swiss frontier and on the second, he managed to cross it. Thence he traveled through war-time France and back to England.He then promptly joined the First Airborne Division and was dropped with that immortal body of men on Arnhem. There he was taken prisoner once more, and having spent 13 days and 13 nights hidden in a constricted wall-cupboard in a German guard-room, he escaped yet again, recovered in the house of a courageous Dutch family from this truly astonishing feat of endurance and crossed back into the British lines.As a stopry of ingenuity, courage and determination, this is difficult to equal.