Best of
Adventure

1973

One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey


Sam Keith - 1973
    Thousands have had such dreams, but Richard Proenneke lived them. He found a place, built a cabin, and stayed to become part of the country. One Man's Wilderness is a simple account of the day-to-day explorations and activities he carried out alone, and the constant chain of nature's events that kept him company. From Proenneke's journals, and with first-hand knowledge of his subject and the setting, Sam Keith has woven a tribute to a man who carved his masterpiece out of the beyond.

The Princess Bride


William Goldman - 1973
    Morgenstern classic, The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that the boring parts were left out of good old Dad's recitation, and only the "good parts" reached his ears.Now Goldman does Dad one better. He's reconstructed the "Good Parts Version" to delight wise kids and wide-eyed grownups everywhere.What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants. Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex.In short, it's about everything.

Moonraker's Bride


Madeleine Brent - 1973
    The way she tackles this task leads to her being thrown into the grim prison of Chengfu, where she meets Nicholas Sabine - a man about to die.He asks her a cryptic riddle, the mystery of which echoes through all that befalls her in the months that follow...She is brought to England and tries to make a new life with the Gresham family, but she is constantly in disgrace and is soon involved in the bitter feud between the Greshams and a neighbouring family.There is danger, romance and heartache for Lucy as strange events build to a point where she begins to doubt her own senses.How could she see a man, long dead, walking in the misty darkness of the valley? And who carried her, unconscious, into the labyrinth of Chiselhurst Caves and left her to die?It is not until she returns to China that Lucy finds, amid high adventure, the answer to all that has baffled her.

The Cowboy and the Cossack


Clair Huffaker - 1973
    Assigned to accompany them is a band of Cossacks, Russia’s elite horsemen and warriors. From the first day, distrust between the two groups disrupts the cattle drive. But as they overcome hardships and trials along the trail, a deep understanding and mutual respect develops between the men in both groups.

Mrs. Pollifax Three Complete Mysteries: A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, Mrs. Pollifax on Safari, Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station


Dorothy Gilman - 1973
    Mysteries

Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty & Wilderness Journals


W.L. Rusho - 1973
    At the age of 20, he mysteriously vanished into the barren Utah desert. Ruess has become an icon for modern-day adventurers and seekers. His search for ultimate beauty and adventure is chronicled in two books that contain remarkable collections of his writings, extracted from his journals and from letters written to family and friends. Both books are reprinted here in their entirety.

The Boy Who Sailed Around the World Alone


Robin Lee Graham - 1973
    Recounts the voyage of Robin Lee Graham, a California sixteen-year-old, who spent nearly five years sailing alone around the world.Photo Illustrated, many photos of Graham by National Geographic photographers.

Survive the Savage Sea


Dougal Robertson - 1973
    With no maps, compass or navigation instruments and rations for only 3 days.

Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty


W.L. Rusho - 1973
    Many have been inspired by his intense search for adventure, leaving behind the amenities of a comfortable life. His search for ultimate beauty and oneness with nature is chronicled in this remarkable collection of letters to family and friends.

The Court-Martial of Daniel Boone


Allan W. Eckert - 1973
    A captain during the Revolutionary War, Boone faces court-martial and hanging for such high crimes as betraying his command to the Indians, conspiring to surrender Boonesborough, consorting with the enemy, and accepting favors from the British. And Boone pleads guilty to all of the actions detailed in the charges against him. But he also pleads not guilty to the charge of treason, and to the amazement of the court, he insists on defending himself - disregarding the advice of experienced counsel in favor of a plan only he himself knows. Strong, seemingly irrefutable evidence is added to the prosecution's case with each witness. To a man, they corraborate the capture of Boone and his company by Shawnee Indians, Boone's preferential treatment in the Indian camp.

Tales of Mr. Pengachoosa


Caroline Rush - 1973
    While recovering from a long illness, a little girl is entertained by her pet hamster who tells her stories about his adventurous grandfather.

Trim


Matthew Flinders - 1973
    To the memory of Trim, the best and most illustrious of his race, the most affectionate of friends, faithful of servants, and best of creatures. He made a tour of the Globe, and a voyage to Australia, which he circumnavigated; and was ever the delight and pleasure of his fellow voyagers. Returning to Europe in 1803, he was shipwrecked in the Great Equinoxial Ocean; this danger escaped, he sought refuge and assistance at the Isle of France, where he was made prisoner, contrary to the laws of Justice, of Humanity, and of French National Faith; and where, alas! he terminated his useful career; by an untimely death, being devoured by the Catophago of that island. Many a time have I beheld his little merriments with delight, and his superior intelligence with surprise: Never will his life be seen again! Trim was born in the Southern Indian Ocean, in the Year 1799, and perished as above at the Isle of France in 1804. Peace be to his shade, and honour to his memory.

Gone to Texas


Forrest Carter - 1973
    The Union Army slaughtered his family and lured his friends into a death trap under the guise of a white flag. The war may be over, but he refuses to surrender. No matter how far he has to ride, no matter how high the price on his head, no matter how much he hurts or hungers - he will get his vengeance.

The Aardvark Who Wasn't Sure


Jill Tomlinson - 1973
    But what does that mean? Pim decides to find out. He’s disappointed when he discovers that aardvarks can’t climb trees, but as time goes by, Pim realizes there are some advantages to being an aardvark after all.

Goodbye to an Old Friend


Brian Freemantle - 1973
    Though he looks like a pencil pusher, he is a British counter-intelligence agent. In his own quiet, bureaucratic way, Dodds is vital to the security of the United Kingdom. His latest assignment is debriefing Viktor Pavel, a Soviet aeronautics genius who escapes his handlers to become the Cold War’s most high-profile defector. Can he be trusted, or was he sent over as part of an elaborate Russian ruse? The truth is more complex than Dodds can imagine. Based on years of experience covering foreign affairs for English newspapers, this is one of the first novels by Brian Freemantle, one of the finest espionage authors of the Cold War. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Pirates in the Park


Thom Roberts - 1973
    Jenny goes to the park and uses her imagination to launch the SS Walnut, fighting enemies and enjoying the pond.

Barry: The Bravest Saint Bernard


Lynn Hall - 1973
    in full color. This is the true-life story of Barry, a remarkable Saint Bernard who gained worldwide fame for rescuing more than 40 people trapped under avalanches.

Read About Me and the Bee


Sara Stein - 1973
    

The White Cat


Errol Le Cain - 1973
    The White Cat helps the youngest prince win his father's throne.

Herman the Great


Zora Louise Olsen - 1973
    

The Next Horizon


Chris Bonington - 1973
    The Next Horizon picks up where that volume left off and relates his subsequent adventures as a mountaineer, photographer, journalist and expedition leader. The book opens with a journey to Chile to climb the Central Tower of Paine in 1962 and it ends in the summer of 1972 with preparations for the autumn Everest expedition which in the event only just failed to put a British climber on top of the world's highest mountain for the first time. Here we learn more of the charismatic generation of climbing personalities with whom he travelled as well as the development of Chris Bonington into the devoted family man and celebrity he is today.

The Runaway Roller Skate


John Vernon Lord - 1973
    Ellwood braves one unlikely adventure after another in his pursuit of the mischievous mouse who hijacks his favorite roller skate.

The Sowers of the Thunder


Robert E. Howard - 1973
    He is well known for having created the character Conan the Cimmerian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond. Voracious reading, along with a natural talent for prose writing and the encouragement of teachers, conspired to create in Howard an interest in becoming a professional writer. One by one he discovered the authors that would influence his later work: Jack London and Rudyard Kipling. It's clear from Howard's earliest writings and the recollections of his friends that he suffered from severe depression from an early age. Friends recall him defending the act of suicide as a valid alternative as early as eighteen years old, while many of his stories and poems have a suicidal gloom and intensity that seem prescient in hindsight, describing such an end not as a tragedy but as a release from hell on earth.

Paso Por Aqui


Eugene Manlove Rhodes - 1973
      Rhodes wrote about them with wit, gusto, and tenderness, with honesty, clarity, and a sureness of interpretation as yet unequaled. He captured for all time the free, lonely, self-reliant, skilled, eternally optimistic essence of his West.   Rhodes himself rode a brindle steer, fleeing from an irate sheriff, as his story hero McEwen does, and Rhodes made seven miles on his bovine mount before the beast “sulled” on him. Rhodes was also a volunteer nurse in a diphtheria pest house when El Garrotillo (the strangler) was the most feared disease in the isolated West.   Pat Garrett appears here under his own name and in a favorable light—Rhodes’s way of rebutting what he considered unfair disparagement of Garrett by other writers. The story was filmed in 1948 as Four Faces West, starring Joel McCrea in the lead and Charles Bickford as Pat Garrett.   Eugene Manlove Rhodes was one of the great writers of the Western, and this is his most anthologized story. Students of western history and American literature, and everyone who loves tales of the Old West will enjoy this Rhodes classic.

The Great Bicycle Expedition: Freewheeling Through Europe with a Cockamamie Family, a Potted Plant, and Bicycleseatus


William C. Anderson - 1973
    With The Great Bicycle Expedition, they're at it again with a rollicking new tale of their most recent caper - bicycling across Europe.Naturally, the family embarks sans any serious bicycling experience, with mishaps and hardships coming all too frequently as these four cyclepaths try to master their brand-new ten-speed racers. After a wobbly beginning in Denmark, where Dortha finds herself more often on the pavement on the bicycle seat, the group plots a course through Sweden. Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, where they nearly meet disaster when Dortha's bicycle and pocketbook suddenly vanish, and France.No European trip would be complete without a touch of romance, and each of the Andersons' two college-aged offspring, Scott and Holly, is in turn smitten with the love bug. Even Andy and Dortha succumb readily to the magic of moonlight boat rides and fine wines. And the fun starts when les parents find themselves booked into two different "respectable" hotels in the same city, where fate seems determined to separate them.Sandwiched in with the fun and adventure are many practical tips about the rapidly expanding sport of bicycling - and about low-cost travel in Europe. Guiding us intimately through the back-roads of Europe, Anderson treats us to a valuable travelogue that includes anecdotes, lessons, and observations about everything from Low Country cuisine to the house where Rembrandt lived.Warm, witty, and delightfully funny, The Great Bicycle Expedition will be welcomed by the millions who are discovering or rediscovering the joys of cycling as well as lovers of fine family adventure.

Challenging the Deep


Hans Hass - 1973