Book Description

"What is an adventure? 'A remarkable or hazardous experience; an unexpected or exciting occurence befalling anyone; as, the adventures of Robinson Crusoe.' Thus reads the unabridged dictionary. While an adventurer is 'One who seeks adventure, or engages in perilous or hazardous enterprizes; hence, one who seeks his fortune in new and untried fields.' This definition is so broad as to imply that an adventure is what you make of it, and over the years that is exactly what I have come to consider true. Not long ago, I had an adventure when I journeyed to far-off Tibet with my son, Lowell Thomas, Jr., and spent sometime among those little-known and mysterious people. I have adventured in many lands and on the shores of all the seven seas. And yet I have had remarkable adventures right in the heart of New York City and in London and Paris in the form of 'remarkable, unexpected or exciting occurences'; while adventures of some of our most history-changing personages have occurred in the cities and towns of our lands. I suppose it is fortunate that men have always wanted to think of themselves as adventurous spirits. And what a vast company they include! Whenever a call has gone out for adventure-seekers, the response has been overwhelming. Take, for instance, this advertisement placed by my friend, Sir Ernest Shackleton, the polar explorer, in the London newspapers in 1900: 'MEN WANTED for Hazardous Journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success -- Sir Ernest Shackleton.' Shackleton, in speaking of it later, said: 'It seemed as though all the men in Great Britain were determined to accompany me, the response was so overwhelming.' Why? You might well ask. Why would anyone seek such difficulties with such doubtful returns? The answer, no doubt, is partially instinct; for mankind has learned that it is adventure that will preserve the human race. Adventure has discovered new lands, climbed new peaks, explored uncharted deserts, crossed new oceans. The adventurer is a man at his most alive, his strongest, his wiliest. An adventurer is a man who dares to combat nature, to meet it on his own ground. 'Nature' to him may take the form of dangerous wild beasts, dangerous oceans, sometimes even dangerously new ideas. He is a history maker... a map changer. His exploits serve to inspire others and to lift mankind to its highest pinnacle. Obviously, it would be hopeless to try to include in a single book every great adventure. Obvious, and regrettable. We nod an apology to Columbus and Balboa... to Peary, Amundsen and Byrd, the Wright Brothers, those who were first to sail and fly around the world -- and to all those hero-adventurers of our wars, who have been exluded here for lack of space. Our selections have been chosen on three bases: the 'greatness' of the adventure involved, the interesting style of the adventure-teller, the variety of the different kinds of man's adventures. If -- by the reading of this book -- somewhere, just one person is inspired to the heights, just one great new adventurer is born whose exploits will be recorded in tomorrow's anthologies, then we shall consider this an exciting editorial adventure for which we have ample reward."--Introduction.