What do you think?
Rate this book
The New Age of Adventure: Ten Years of Great Writing
National Geographic Adventure has published the best work by today’s finest writers, and this tenth anniversary anthology assembles an elite corps of authors that includes Sebastian Junger, Peter Matthiessen, Philip Caputo, and two dozen others. These reporters have voyaged to the ends of the earth to bring back the decade’s most thrilling, eccentric, and extraordinary tales. But the pieces collected here do more than paint a portrait of the world’s most extreme and fascinating environments—they also explore important questions about adventure in the 21st century.
These stories rocket readers across the roof of the world on the new high-speed railway in Tibet, describe the tension between Indian farmers and the sacred elephants besieging their villages, and introduce them to a shaman whom some believe can cure the most serious depressions. We meet the great Afghan warlord Ahmed Shah Massoud—said to have been the finest guerrilla fighter since Ho Chi Minh—encounter a yeti with legendary mountaineer Reinhold Messner, and much more.
This is a wide-ranging collection for every road warrior and adventurer—armchair or otherwise—culled from the much acclaimed journal that in its first ten years has won millions of devoted readers and garnered more than a dozen prestigious prizes for excellence in journalism.
These stories rocket readers across the roof of the world on the new high-speed railway in Tibet, describe the tension between Indian farmers and the sacred elephants besieging their villages, and introduce them to a shaman whom some believe can cure the most serious depressions. We meet the great Afghan warlord Ahmed Shah Massoud—said to have been the finest guerrilla fighter since Ho Chi Minh—encounter a yeti with legendary mountaineer Reinhold Messner, and much more.
This is a wide-ranging collection for every road warrior and adventurer—armchair or otherwise—culled from the much acclaimed journal that in its first ten years has won millions of devoted readers and garnered more than a dozen prestigious prizes for excellence in journalism.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
18 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 21, 2018
Found this book in a pile of for sale books and I am glad I pulled this one out.
I was probably too young to read this in 2012 but I read it and loved it. Sure, it made me grow up even faster not that I didn't know the horrors of the world, but then isn't that the start of an epic adventure? Then there is always the good. The good always come at some point hahaha
I was probably too young to read this in 2012 but I read it and loved it. Sure, it made me grow up even faster not that I didn't know the horrors of the world, but then isn't that the start of an epic adventure? Then there is always the good. The good always come at some point hahaha
January 12, 2019
Excellent short stories of the great outdoors
May 28, 2013
I've always been a sucker for compilations of short stories. This is an excellent collection.
There's an underlying philosophical question in here though. Why are all of the "best of the best" articles so depressing? What is it about depressing stories that gives them the sort of heft that sinks in deep and sticks with you? Everyone sees that these articles are more weighty and, almost objectively, better than the other articles publishes in the last decade. Why is that?
I think it's because these are not only the most depressing, but also the most realistic. It says something about the reality in which we live. Or, maybe it's just a book of interesting stories of adventure.
There's an underlying philosophical question in here though. Why are all of the "best of the best" articles so depressing? What is it about depressing stories that gives them the sort of heft that sinks in deep and sticks with you? Everyone sees that these articles are more weighty and, almost objectively, better than the other articles publishes in the last decade. Why is that?
I think it's because these are not only the most depressing, but also the most realistic. It says something about the reality in which we live. Or, maybe it's just a book of interesting stories of adventure.
September 2, 2011
The quality is uneven, but the fantastic stories included more than make up for the weaker ones. I don't want to accidentally leave anything out, but the stories about the Afghan warlord and why people get lost were just amazing. Many of the others are just as good (Emperor penguins...less so.) I started every story with great anticipation that it might be another spectacular one. If you like adventure stories and good writing, this is a must-read.
September 12, 2020
Every essay/article in this collection was interesting. I especially enjoyed the stories of people pushing themselves to the limit exploring or adventuring. The essays regarding animals, while well written, were heavy topics and depressed me.
June 23, 2024
The stories felt somewhat dated reading it 22 years after many of them were published, but in general still an enjoyable compilation. In particular, I liked the construction of David Robert's "Out of Thin Air" article on the 1924 Everest exposition. Well researched and presented.
March 8, 2015
Overall, this collection of modern adventures in exotic locations was great. There were three or four disappointing pieces, but the remaining stories - tales of rampaging elephants, man-eating lions, Afghan warlords, lost mountain climbers and gorillas threatened by guerrillas - more than made up for them. I would recommend this book for anyone who loves reading National Geographic Magazine and has a taste for well-crafted, first-person journalistic adventures.
April 25, 2016
I'm not usually a fan of short stories and to a point, this collection was no different. However, there were some exceptional stories within this collection and few that missed the mark for me. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventures. At the minimum, you learn about a story which you can then look into further for more detailed books.
October 9, 2018
7/7/18 Was looking up Sebastian Jungers' latest book and found this.
10/6/18 - read the Sebastian Younger and section. For Personal Growth. It's worth reading if you're an outdoorsy person. Read the Mossoud article, which was odd because it was written just before he was killed, which was just before the 9/11 attacks. It seems so long ago and not so long ago at the same time.
10/6/18 - read the Sebastian Younger and section. For Personal Growth. It's worth reading if you're an outdoorsy person. Read the Mossoud article, which was odd because it was written just before he was killed, which was just before the 9/11 attacks. It seems so long ago and not so long ago at the same time.
November 6, 2015
A fantastic variety of stories from around the world. Each offered a unique writing style and perspective on a culture, experience, or location throughout the world. I especially enjoyed Kira Salak's "Hell and Back," which gave an incredible account of her experience with ayahuasca.
December 21, 2011
I wish more people knew about this book.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews