Links, media, and resources recommended by Robert Young Pelton and Dangerous magazine…
Books
By Robert Young Pelton
Robert Young Pelton’s The World’s Most Dangerous Places, 5th Edition is the updated version of the book that put Pelton on the map. As an invaluable travel compendium of places most people would deem uninhabitable, the book has stood on its own among industry-changing adventure narratives. Dangerous Places has been circulated around the world for its wit and wisdom of the world’s hotspots.
Licesnsed to Kill is an inside look at the shadowy business of security contracting. After meeting a team of covert contractors on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Pelton decided to delve into the controversial world of private armed guards. The book introduces key players in the current and past world of contracting that covers four continents and three years of reporting.
The Adventurist is a book that will change the way you think about travel, adventure and survival. The book is the autobiography of Robert Young Pelton, written in the same humorous, under-stated voice that’s made his other books so successful. The Adventurist is a wild ride around the globe with “Mr. Dangerous Places” himself.
Come Back Alive is its own sort of survival handbook. In classic Pelton style, filled with wit and humor, the dangers of our modern world are broken down into digestible sections that will make you more aware of, and prepared for, the risks we face in everyday life and traveling abroad.
The Hunter, The Hammer, and Heaven: Journeys to Three Worlds Gone Mad is Pelton’s experiences in Sierra Leone, Chechnya, and Bougainville. Each locale offers its own disruptive environment to make Pelton feel at home, and each is a wildly different environment. The book is filled with tension and intrigue, as well as insider accounts of people in conflict.
Wild Stories: The Best of Men’s Journal showcases some of the finest journalism the magazine has to offer. Published in 2003, this compilation demonstrates the adventure and travel narratives that helped raise the bar for today’s writers. The well-heeled list of authors includes Tim Cahill, Mark Bowden, Hampton Sides and Philip Caputo.
The Best American series has been republishing the years’ finest content since 1915. In this 2005 edition, Dangerous publisher, Robert Young Pelton, in his article Into the Land of Bin Laden, details the difficulty of finding Osama bin Laden in the Taliban-controlled areas. Pelton goes deep into the mountains of Pakistan to report the story.
Books About the War on Terror
American Soldier: Stories of Special Forces from Iraq to Afghanistan is a collection of memoirs, journalism and fiction about the modern history of special operations forces in combat. From Mark Bowden to Phillip Taubman, this book offers a comprehensive look at some of the most elite fighting units in the world and the missions they carry out.
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why is a look at what leads to death for some and survival of others: a 17-year-old girl hacks her way to civilization after her plane crashes in the Peruvian jungle; a group of better-equipped adults die in the same situation. This book gets into the difference between the two.
My Jihad: One American’s Journey Through the World of Usama is the story of Aukai Collins. Collins’s childhood was spent living the thuglife on the streets. While incarcerated he converted to Islam and went on to train in one of bin Laden’s Afghan training camps. After refusing to carry out a mission, he offered his services to the US Government, which it mostly ignored.
“My Heart Became Attached”: The Strange Journey of John Walker Lindh tells the story of one of the most notorious American jihadis. Author Mark Kukis recounts the life of Lindh and why an educated, privileged California man would trade his American life for the life of a traitor fighting with the Taliban. Extensive research and interviews have resulted in the most complete look at Lindh’s life to date.
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why is a look at what leads to death for some and survival of others: a 17-year-old girl hacks her way to civilization after her plane crashes in the Peruvian jungle; a group of better-equipped adults die in the same situation. This book gets into the difference between the two.
Books about survival
Where There is No Doctor may be the most widely read medical handbook in the world. This 2010 reprint from the Hisperian Foundation, which has been selling the book for 25 years, is updated with current information. For off-the-beaten-path medical advice and information, this book is indispensable.
Survival Wisdom Know How: Everything You Need to Know to Thrive in the Wilderness should be required reading for anyone who spends time in the bush. From orienteering to cooking to ice climbing, some people consider this the most complete survival manual ever published. The book includes input from leading survival experts and instructors. It will not only help you make it out of the woods alive, it will help you enjoy time of less duress.
Combat Tracking Guide is the first tracking guide dedicated to performing the tasks in a combat scenario. To that, it addresses how to track a hostile armed subject, and how to track the subject in such a way that would allow to kill the subject. Written by retired US Army Special Forces soldier John Hurth, who now instructs for the TYR Group in related activities, this detailed manual includes many photographs for visual reference.
The US Special Forces Handbook reveals, to a degree, the tactics and methods that make the US Army Special Forces soldiers one the world’s elite warfighter units. This handbook is essentially a guide to unconventional warfare. It’s a how-to and how-it-works breakdown of techniques designed to help a highly trained soldier.
The Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook should be able to cover most of your field-incurred injuries. If not, you might consider traveling with a paramedic. For the rest of us, this handbook provides invaluable advice on everything from basic first aid to emergency combat surgery. As a reference for both the military and civilians alike, it’s a desk reference and field book. We wouldn’t suggest you leave home without it.
Emergency War Surgery: The Survivalist’s Medical Desk Reference is the Department of Defense’s most up-to-date medical reference. The book provides detailed information, practices and principles on trauma care in less-than-ideal situations. Published in 2012, this book was heartily welcomed by the civilian world.
The US Army Improvised Munitions Handbook is the government version of The Anarchist’s Cookbook. The book is straightforward, easy to read, easy to use, and includes more than 600 illustrations. The munition designs in the handbook are clear, highly effective, and use materials that are readily available.
Books by Tim Cahill
Hold the Enlightenment is a fascinating look places we know and place we’ve only heard of. In essence, it’s a distilled account environmental and cultural scenarios that give the reader a sense of place and time in both the exotic and domestic.
Pass the Butterworms: Remote Journeys Oddly Rendered is a collection of Cahill’s travel writing that takes the reader on a wild ride from the steppes of Mongolia to the geysers of Yellowstone National Park.
Road Fever is the story of the road trip that trumps all other road trips. From Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska at the northern terminus of the Dawson Highway, Cahill and a professional distance driver covered the 15,000 miles spanning two continents in a record-breaking 23 days.
Jaguars Ripped My Flesh is a compilation of travel stories that gives new meaning to the phrase “going to extremes.” The stories are rife with adventure and humor in ways that have made Cahill an icon in the world of adventure travel writing.
By Thomas Gotlz
Azerbaijan Diary: A Rogue Reporter’s Adventures in an Oil-Rich, War-Torn, Post-Soviet Republic is one of the few dispatches from one of the most intriguing former Soviet republics. From his illegal entry into the country to its war with Armenia, the scholarly Goltz provides insight and information on a little-known country.
Chechnya Diary: A War Correspondent’s Story of Surviving the War in Chechnya is a detailed look at the rogue republic that tried to secede from the Russian Federation after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a deeply personal book, it explores many of the people involved in the conflict.
Georgia Diary: A Chronicle of War and Political Chaos in the Post-Soviet Caucasus is an account of Georgia’s role in the geopolitical chess game of Eastern Europe. Goltz successfully conveys the significance and state of unrest of Georgia.
Assassinating Shakespeare: Confessions of a Bard in the Bush is the story of the author’s two years in Africa as a one-man Shakespeare street show. From his port of call in war-torn Ethiopia, the book is a romp through the Darkest Continent.
Other worthwhile reads…
Rock and Hard Places: Travels to Frontlines, Backstages and Assorted Sideshows is a collection of Peter Mueller’s stories that (mostly) center around traveling and hanging out with rock bands. Originally published in the UK in 1999, the book is now updated and revised with more current information.
I Wouldn’t Start From Here: The 21st Century and Where It All Went Wrong is what happens when rock critic Peter Mueller finds himself dodging landmines and talking to war-hardened rebels. The book is a look at some of the bloodiest war zones on the planet where, Peter Mueller surmises, the fighting is a violent search for identity.
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of deadly Obsession in the Amazon is the story of Peter Fawcett, who disappeared in 1925 while looking for remains of a lost civilization, and the author, David Grann, a New York-based writer who decided to search for evidence of Fawcett’s party. The book is both a modern adventure story and a historical look at Amazonian exploration.
The River of Doubt; Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey is the story of Roosevelt’s Amazonian adventure that nearly cost him his life, and may have been the reason for his eventual death. As a tale of remote natives, wild rivers and the toils of jungle travel, the book is as pure an adventure story as you’ll find.
Adventure Travel in Third World: Everything You Need to Know to Survive in Remote and Hostile Destinations is Jeff Randall and Mike Perrin’s guide to living in an uncomfortable world. Based on years of survival expertise and bush lore, the book is an invaluable resource for anyone traveling to blank spots on the map.
Movies
Mountains of the Moon is the story of Sir Richard Burton’s East African expedition to find the source of the Nile River. The movie is a classic story of adventure with a fascinating, intense dialogue between two men, Burton and his partner, in the wilds of Africa.
The Devil Drives: A Life of Sir Richard Burton is the story of Burton. It’s the story of an individualistic adventurer, of a man determined to see the farther horizon. The movie also includes interesting information Lady Burton, Richard’s wife.
In The Man Who Would be King Sean Connery and Michael Caine star in this story about two British adventurers who take over primitive Kafiristan as rulers, meeting a tragic end through their desire for a native girl.
The Horsemen is a startlingly raw look at the brutal Afghan game of buzkashi. Steeped in tradition and born from the dry, mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, the game represents much more than just a feat of horsemanship.
Television
Ron Hood
Survival Basics I & II, The Adventure is Hood’s general, follow-by-example guide to everyday wilderness preparedness. For hikers and survivalists alike, this video provides the basics of wilderness living.
Advanced Survival Guide is the logical next step in Hood’s television series. Building upon material covered in the Basics I & II episode, this video gives you more information, more techniques and will help you attain more skills to ensure you make it home alive.
Ultimate Survival Guide with Ron and Karen Hood, Cold Climate ~ Desert is guide to surviving that covers a range of environments and scenarios.
Les Stroud
Survivorman, Norwegian Mountain Survival, Part I is Stroud’s ten-day isolation in the mountains of Norway without food or camera crew.
Survivorman, Sierra Nevada shows Stroud as he gets lost in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Eventually a search and rescue team is called to track him down.
Survivorman, Amazon makes Stroud relearn much of his survival techniques in what was historically called a “counterfeit paradise.”
Survivorman, Arctic lands Stroud on Baffin Island for seven days to learn the way of the ice.
Bush Lore
The Trappers Bible is a compendium of everything you need to know about use primitive materials to snare, trap and catch animals. Useful information is also included on camp alarms and pathguards.
The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting and Preparing Edible wild Plants is as useful as it is interesting to read. The book is a practical guide that includes color photographs for easy, accurate reference.
A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs: Of Eastern and Central North America
is a Peterson Guidebook that contains information on more than 500 plants. The book is an indispensable guide to traditional medicine.
Edible Wild Plants: A Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods is a well-organized, easy-to-read guidebook that has received critical acclaim in its previous editions. Edible plant enthusiasts will find it invaluable.
A Field Guide to Venomous Animals and Poisonous Plants: North America North of Mexico is designed to keep you safe in the filed. Published by Peterson Field Guides, the book is a must-have for nearly anyone venturing to wild places.
Healing Herbs and Spices: The Most Popular Herbs and Spices, Their Culinary and Medicinal Uses, and Recipes to Use Them in Healing Foods, Volume is a complete guide to using medicinal herbs and spices to improve your health. Such as increasing memory, boosting your immune system and other uses.
Primitive Wilderness Living & Survival Skills: Naked into the Wilderness is a guidebook that covers wilderness skills learned through a lifetime spent in the outdoors. In this book, all the details and nuances of wild living are covered in depth.
