Adrenaline 2002

Book excerpt: The third edition of publishing's only adventure annual offers another terrifying and exhilarating collection of the journeys which define true adventure. As the literature of adventure continues to grow, the quality of the stories keeps climbing—as this year's collection bears out. Adrenaline 2002 includes writing drawn from the year's best adventure book titles, magazine pieces, and websites, such as Alexandra Fuller's account of growing up during Rhodesia's civil war, facing dangers that included spitting cobras and terrorists; Robert Roper's profiles of fearless American mountaineer Willie Unsoeld, including gripping accounts of his epic climbs; Hampton Sides telling the story of American and Filipino forces in WW II secretly rescuing the survivors of the Bataan Death March; and graduate student Kira Salak's tale of trekking into the heart of New Guinea in search of danger—and finding it. Together, these selections show that today's best adventure literature ranks among the best writing anywhere.