Will to Live: Dispatches from the Edge of Survival

In Will to Live, Les Stroud, host of ?Survivorman? and Discovery Channel?s ?Les Stroud Beyond Survival,? examines the greatest true stories of endurance and perseverance. By examining real-life survival tales-like the inspiring story of the soccer team stranded in the Andes and immortalized in the bestselling book Alive by Piers Paul Reid-and his own remarkable experiences in the treacherous wild, Stroud demonstrate how seemingly insurmountable obstacles can be overcome by making use of the four critical elements of survival. From Booklist The creator of TV?s Survivorman looks at some real-life survival situations and offers his perspective on them. Some will be familiar to many: the 1972 Andes crash of an airplane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team (chronicled in the book and movie, Alive); Chris McCandless? solo hike into the Alaskan wilderness (subject of the book and movie, Into the Wild). Others less familiar are no less fascinating, such as the plight of the Karluk, a ship that, during the 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition, was trapped several months in an ice pack. Stroud approaches the stories practically: here?s what these people did, here?s what they should have done, here?s what you should think about doing if you?re ever in a similar situation. He offers intelligent tips?if you?re traveling somewhere remote, tell people where you?re going, take a well-stocked survival kit, and keep a cool head if you get lost?and he does an excellent job of putting readers into the situations he?s discussing, making us feel the cold or the panic or the sheer desperation. --David Pitt From the Back Cover In a survival situation, a wrong decision could spell the difference between life and death. No one knows this better than Les Stroud, who has survived everywhere from the sun-scorched sands of the Kalahari to the snake-infested jungles of the Amazon. In Will to Live, Les examines many incredible true life survival stories-explaining what happened and why, and offering valuable perspectives on what went right, what went wrong, and what could have been done differently. The tales in Will to Live include:Chris McCandless-the subject of the book and movie Into the Wild.Yossi Ghinsberg-who survived alone in the Amazon for twenty-one days.Douglas Mawson-the Antarctic "superman" who survived three hellish months at the bottom of the planet.Nando Parrado-who was trapped for two months high in the Andes after a plane crash killed his friends and family.Plus . . . stories from Les's own experiences, along with practical sidebars with tips on how to escape quicksand, butcher a moose, cross a snow-covered crevasse, and more.Provocative and entertaining, Will to Live is a compilation of history's most intriguing survival stories from one of the world's foremost experts. About the Author Survival expert and filmmaker Les Stroud is the creator/producer/host/director of Survivorman and Les Stroud: Beyond Survival on the Discovery Channel. He has produced, hosted, and appeared in many television specials, including Shark Week, Surviving Alaska, and Off the Grid with Les Stroud.