The Sea Wolf by Jack London
The fascinating tale of a wealthy man, Humphrey Van Wheydon, who is cast into the sea when his ship collides with another in a heavy fog. The man is eventually rescued by a seal hunting expedition, the captain of which is a brutal man called the Sea Wolf who decides to keep Van Wheydon on board as a servant. An adventure story on the surface, this story provides critical insight into man’s inhumanity to man upon closer examination.
Roughing It by Mark Twain
Mark Twain offers his own perspective of the Old West as he journeys through it. Stagecoaches, gold, prospecting, and an antagonist that seems to come right out of a Spaghetti Western make for exciting reading cover to cover. Placed under fiction since though Twain claimed these stories are true, it is generally accepted that some are somewhat embellished.
The Beach by Alex Garland
The search for a fabled beach, said to be perfect in every way, leads a small group of young backpackers on the adventure of a lifetime. However, upon finding the beach, they discover that something so perfect is hard to keep secret.
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Melville’s masterpiece concerning Captain Ahab’s insatiable quest to exact revenge on the great white whale that crippled him, as told by Ishmael, a sailor on board Ahab’s ship.
All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby-Dick. He piled upon the whale’s white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart’s shell upon it.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The famous account of the castaway Robinson Crusoe as he makes a life for himself on a remote island off the coast of South America, structured as if it was written by Crusoe himself.
And thus I have given the first Part of a Life of Fortune and Adventure, a Life of Providence’s Checquer-Work, and of a Variety which the World will seldom be able to show the like of: Beginning foolishly, but closing much more happily than any Part of it ever gave me Leave so much as to hope for.
Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
An Irish physician is wrongly convicted of treason, but escapes execution and flees. Making his way to the Caribbean, he eventually becomes one of the most notorious pirates of the high seas. While fiction, the exploits of Captain Blood are loosely based on the life of the pirate Henry Morgan.
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
An English tourist to fictional Ruritania is swept up into extraordinary circumstances when he is chosen to impersonate the recently kidnapped king in an attempt to evade the political upheaval that would likely occur if the king’s abduction was made public.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
A story of adventure and survival on the surface, this classic also provides an in-depth evaluation of human nature and society. A plane crash on a deserted island results in no adult survivors, forcing the youngsters who did survive to fend for themselves until rescue can arrive. Troubles ensue as the boys attempt to form a society of their own, and the power of the leaders begins to corrupt their principles.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The story of the Kurtz, an ivory trader in the Belgian Congo who has “gone native,” as told by Marlow, the man sent to retrieve him. A complex critique of human nature wrapped in an adventure story.
Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire. What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth! . . . The dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germs of empires.
Inca Gold by Clive Cussler
A dashing adventurer in the vein of Indiana Jones or James Bond, Dirk Pitt finds himself as the only thing standing between smugglers and a centuries old Incan treasure horde hidden high in the Peruvian Andes.
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I have to echo all the above posters who mentioned Dune. Frank Herbert is, IMO, one of the best writers of this century.
If you liked Dune, do yourself a favor and read the following five books: Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse Dune.
Frank Herbert non-Dune books that are excellent: Soulcatcher, and The White Plague. I like most everything he’s written, but those two definately stand above, especially Soulcatcher.
You would have to include any or all of the Horatio Hornblower books. Great for teaching leadership!
Deliverance by Dickey.
The Doc Savage books, especially the ones that took place in jungles.
How about Mr. America or some of the other books written by George M. Fraser?
Sadly, no James Fenimore Cooper.. The Deerslayer or Last of the Mohicans should be on this list.
I would suggest the Travis McGee series of John D. McDonald. The books feature the adventures of a rugged, modern-day Odysseus cum Don Quixote cum James Bond in the persona of McGee, a charming, salt-of-the-earth type maverick whose testosterone-laced weltanschauung leads him into perilous quests to avenge wronged friends, usually females in mortal distress. Mc Gee’s musings, intellectual digressions and profound insights into the human psyche are delightful in themselves and combined with the action and mayhem he gleefully pursues, make for a wonderful tonic for the macho lurking in all of us. No wonder McDonald is Stephen King’s favorite modern author. The Green Ripper is my favorite along with a whole slew of others whose kaleidoscope of colorful titles make for great reading.
I would suggest McCarthey’s “The Road.” What is more manly than a father and son surviving in a post-apocalyptic journey?
Great list, I’m looking forward to reading some of these this winter. The Rudyard Kipling book, Captains Courageous sounds very similar to a Jack London book I just finished, “The Sea Wolf”. I recommend it for any Jack London and/or Art of Manliness fans.
Came upon your site not too long ago. It’s great, alot of fun, enjoying reading throughout. This list is really solid. Has actually inspired me to go back and read a few. Some again, some for the first time. A couple highly recommended submissions I’d have to add:
Last of the Mohicans – James Fenimore Cooper
The Power of One – Bryce Courtney
Keep up the great work:)
I can’t believe Star Ship troopers by Heinlein didn’t make this list. Classic homage to those who labor to make men of boys.
Most of Cormac McCarthy’s earlier works. Blood Meridian (a personal favorite), Suttree. Some of his later stuff, like All The pretty Horses and No Country for Old Men. The entire Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O’brian. Sailing Around the World Alone, by Joshua Slocum. Adrift, by Steven Callahan.
The works of Robert Service. He may have been a poet but he was the real deal. “There is a land where the mountains are nameless and the rivers all run God knows where, there are lives that are erring and aimless and deaths that just hang by a hair there are hardships that nobody reckons and valleys unpeopled and still o there is a land and it beckons and beckons and I want to go back and I will.” Besides, Homer, and Kipling, who else is there but Service?
+ Shogun
I get your point about Spy stuff… but no Bond? Ok, how about Holmes or Frakenstien? Winners, I say.
Jack Schaffer’s Monty Walsh!
+ to whomever liked TH White over Mallory, I agree (also prefer Mary Stewart’s Merlin Trilogy, maybe even MZB’s Mists of Avalon – are we allowed to have female protagonists on a Manly page?).
If we’re to have a King book I recommend The Stand
Did I mention Holmes and Frankenstein?
May I also suggest NORTHWEST PASSAGE and ARUNDEL by Kenneth Roberts and ROGUE MALE by Geoffrey Household. I was happy to see that you included one of Jim Corbett’s ‘maneater’ books in your non-fiction category. All of his books are wonderful.
Looking at the list brought back many memories as I have read and own many of these works, but you should have included: C. S. Forester’s Hornblower series because reading this introduces you to Patrick O’Brian whose novels have a longer pacing, and to Bernard Cornwell how writes about the same period as well. Stalky and Co. by Kipling is another that should be included as boys always enjoy reading about the doing of other boys.
I’ve seen The Lord of The Ring’s movies and love them very much but I’ve never read the books. After reading your list, I would consider to read it.
I’m too young to know all of this treasure if you hadn’t mention it here.
Thanks for the lost history & art digging :)
great list! I’m making it my new years resolution to read all the books mentioned.
Ender’s Game– story of a child who is summoned to join a military school for elite children, learn the ways of war, and command a fleet to battle an alien insect race. By far, my favorite sci-fi book ever and very ‘manly’ reading. Am assuming author has not read it, because there is no way Michael Crichton’s books can even hold a torch to it in terms of excitement, intrigue, and complexity.
I’m a little disappointed you don’t have any of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars stories. You can’t get much manlier than a guy asserting himself as the warlord of a planet by the strength of his fists, and the edge of a sword.
“The Winter Room” by Gary Paulsen is a must-read.
“Uncle David” and the way he handles himself (especially at the end of the book) is one of the ultimate depictions of TRUE manliness and sprezzatura.
I would add 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. I also really loved Ender’s Game, but that already made it into the comments.
Lot of great recommendations. Robert Howard, most of Heinlein, esp. his juveniles–Tunnel in the Sky, Have Spacesuit, will Travel, Red Planet, etc., as well as Stranger, Moon, and Troopers. Burroughs, Fleming.
To which I would add Trevanian: The Eiger Sanction, the Loo Sanction (which first chapter is the most horrific writing in English, twice, at first reading because you don’t know what’s going on, at second reading because you do) and Shibumi.
The Battle at Maldon Bridge, a ninth century true story about Brtnoth the Saxon Lord giving his life defending his people from the vikings. Extra manliness if you read it in the original Anglo Saxon (not that hard).
Larry Niven’s Ringworld and tales of Known Space. Simply amazing hard science fiction written with a nod at the pulps.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s White Company, about the English and Scot mercenaries in late Midieval Italy, and also yeah, his Sherlock Holmes stuff.
Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, also Quenten Durward and Rob Roy.
Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light, meditations on identity, opression, Hinduism and revolution cleverly disguised as a fantastic adventure with amazing writing. Also his Lord Demon, Isle of the Dead, and This Immortal, plus his short story collection The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of his Mouth, which contains among others, A Rose for Ecclesiastes.
Poul Anderson’s Three Hearts and Three Lions, and the High Crusade, plus pretty much everything else he ever wrote in a fifty year career.
Oh man, I really though Tarzan wouldn’t be on here! You had me scared there for awhile; that’s my favorite book of all time. A few other greats I would reccomend to anyone here:
1. The Outlaw of Torn, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Fantastic medieval adventure.
2. The Mucker, by ERB. Another favorite of mine.
3. The Carson Napier of Venus series, also by ERB. Not nearly as well known as the John Carter series but also very cool.
4. Yondering, by Louis L’Amour. A collection of terrific short fiction drawn from L’Amour’s own experiences around the globe.
5. The Four Feathers, by AEW Mason. A terrific tale of cowardice, courage and redemption.
6. Vertical Run, by Joseph R. Garber. Awesome story about a modern man stuck in the high rise office building where he works, everyone he knows turning against him for a reason that remains a mystery to him and the reader for much of the book. LOVE IT.
7. The White Company, by Arthur Conan Doyle. A great medieval adventure by the author of Sherlock Holmes.
8. Fair Blows the Wind, by Louis L’Amour. Adventure of the swashbuckling sort.
9. The Old Man and the Sea, by Hemingway. Some might not see it as an adventure, but I certainly do.
I love “My Side of the Mountain”. I read it in 4th grade and to this day I still make an effort to read it at least once a year. It’s all about becoming a man and learning to live for yourself.
WHAT?! A great list, but if this is about Fiction, and the entire world of fiction, then “Starship Troopers” by Robert Heinlein is missing from it…
I may have missed it on another list, but rarely have I see such a great Tale of human nature and Human Ability. I espcially love how the Proffesor in the book explains so well the possibility of a world working towards a “Common Good.” It’s even a pleasure to entertain thoughts of something like this being possible, but the book shows through a gritty space war, what makes us proud to be human. The Author has often been thought of as a true Gentleman, and adds this possible aspect of his own life to the Novel. I recomend it to anyone, even if his particular thoughts on a working government seem farfetched. It’s nice to dream…
A great list, and now I have a few in mind for my next read. I have read quite a few, and must say I am in agreement, other than the Cussler’s. Can’t say I have read much of his stuff.
I would like to suggest The River Why (David James Duncan) , if you havent read it yet.
Hands down my all time favorite.
Last of His Breed – Louis L’Amour should be on this list, no doubt about it.
While being sci-fi the following deserve mention somewhere, perhaps a sci-fi list:
Dune – Frank Herbert
Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
The first 5 Amber Novels – Roger Zelazny
My Name is Legion – Roger Zelazny
The Man in the High Castle – Phillip K. Dick
Snow Crash – Neal Stevenson
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Foundation – Isaac Asimov
The Demolished Man – Alfred Bester
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Player Piano – Kurt Vonnegut
My literary minded friends and I usually end up passing around short stories on canoe and fishing trips into the BWCA. These consistently include Hemingway’s short stories, especially the Nick Adams series. “The Big Two Hearted River” is the best camping story ever written, and there’s a reference to it on the label of Bell’s Two Hearted Ale.
I can come up with 50 just by Louis L’Amour alone. But for starters I’ll go with: Bendigo Shafter, Comstock Lode, The Empty Land, Fair Blows the Wind, The Haunted Mesa, The Lonesome Gods, The Mountain Valley War, Jubal Sackett, Reilly’s Luck, Passin Through, Sitka, The Last of the Breed, The Warriors Path, Utah Blaine, Silver Canyon, The Tal Stranger, and finally Where the Long Grass Blows.
After you read those, the next thing you know your entire library will be full of L’amour’s works.
Many great books have been recommended already, so I will spare you my opinion of those, and give you perhaps a lesser known book by Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game gets all the credit) and that would be “Treason”. Treason is easily in my top 5, and I highly recommend it to any one who loved “Ender’s Game”, or a great sci-fi/fantasy adventure.
Can’t wait to get started. Thanks.
Going Solo, by Roald Dahl is one of my favorite adventure stories. Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, writes his memoir about getting a job in Africa as a young man and then becoming a fighter pilot at the outbreak of WWII.
The Flashman series, by WW II veteran George Macdonald Fraser is a wonderful and funny adventure series set in the British Empire during the reign of Victoria. The first novel, Flashman, is fantastic. My personal favorite is the third in the series, Flash for Freedom. In addition to being great adventure stories, the are incredibly funny, unromantic about human nature, and historically interesting.
When a Man’s a Man by Harold Bell Wright is one of my all time favorites. It was brother’s favorite before me and it was my Dad’s favorite before him!
One other one is “American Captain” by Edison Marshall. Its out of print, but you can find a used copy on Amazon. One of the greatest adventure books I’ve ever read. Throw in some Alan Quartermain, some Count of Monte Cristo, a little Robert E. Howard and a dash of Jack London. Its in my top 5 books of all time.
Great list…
I’d add the following:
The Alienist by Caleb Carr – Historical fiction set in 1890s New York as a journalist and psychologist try to track down the first American serial killer. Bonus: Theodore Roosevelt is a secondary character as the Chief of the NYPD.
Any of the John Bellairs gothic mystery/adventure series for teens: The House With The Clock In It’s Walls, The Curse of the Blue Figurine, The Mummy, The Will, and The Crypt – and many more. I loved these when I was a kid (and still do).
Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton (AKA The 13th Warrior) – A great retelling of Beowulf from the eyes of Arabian adventurer Ibn Fadlan.
Jack London was my first favorite author as a kid, but I never read The Sea Wolf. But after so many recommendations, I’ll pick up a copy this week.
What can I say — you folks ave left out the greatest adventure series of all times: P. C. Wren’s Foreign Legion trilogy of Beau Geste, Beau Sabreur and Beau Ideal.
Also first rate are Alistair MacLean — best known for The Guns Of Navarone — and Bernard Cornwell who writes several historical adventure series.
For kids, I’d recommend the novels of Armstrong Sperry and Howard Pease and thr true adventures of Roy Chapman Andrews, a scientist, explorer and the real-life model for Indiana Jones.
If you want manliness, anything by Hammond Innes.
“Horn of the Hunter” by Robert Ruark
Ernest Hemingway – “Green Hills of Africa”
One of his best Hemingway’s best short stories:
“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”
It starts out bad, but by the end the testosterone is flowing. :-)
I love reading THE FAMOUS FIVE book written by ENID BLYTON.The author haz described it so very well that i feel as if i’m a part of it .
No Hemingway?…You’re kidding. The Nick Adams Stories or possibly Islands in the Stream belong.
I didn’t get a chance to read every blog so if it’s already been mentioned then I apologize now. One of my favorite adventure novelists is Wilbur Smith, he is an Adventure Ficton and Historical Fiction writer. I say read the Balantyne Novels first, they follow a family who explored much of Africa through the generaions starting around 1800 A.D.
If you like adventure books read one of G. A. Henty’s. I would personally recommend starting with “Beric the Briton” or a “Knight of the White Cross”.
Also you should read one of Stephen W. Meader’s books as well. I would recommend “Traplines North” for a start.
It’d be nice if you poster books that weren’t boring as hell.
It’d be nice if you posted books that weren’t boring as hell.
“Papillon” by Henri Charrierre. Greatest adventure story I have ever read. Autobiographical account (perhaps embellished/part-fictional) of a french convict shipped to a penal colony in South America and his continuous escapes and adventures through South America.
Two of my other favourites are “The Power of One” by Bryce Courtenay and the sequel, “Tandia”. About a white boy who grows up in South Africa during apartheid and becomes a boxing champion of the world. Both really engrossing and powerful books.
Some other great non-fiction adventure stories – “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer (greatest mountain climbing story of all time!) and “Kontiki” (account of a group of Norwegian men who build and sail a traditional south american Indian balsa raft from South America to the Polynesian islands). Maybe we need a Non-fiction list also!
nice library dude
the next thing you know your entire library will be full of L’amour’s works.
A delightful compilation of adventure novels as well as a treasure of suggestions from readers. I would only suggest two which may have been inadvertently overlooked as I somewhat hurriedly ran down all the suggestions:
“The African Queen” by C. S. Forester
“The Flight of the Phoenix” Elleston Trevor
Thank you, all!
I’d add The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear
Great list, but don’t leave out Alistair Maclean and his works like Where Eagles Dare and Ice Station Zebra!
Apparently, James Rollins doesn’t get the credit he deserves. The Sigma Force novels are some of the best adventure novels to date.
Great list, thanks for doing this! Hard to capture everything, but definitely worth trying. Thanks
I still love to read about Captain Stormfield, The Mysterious Stranger, Tom Sawyer, Huck….for any of these works by Mark Twain NOT to be included on this list should cause serious contemplation towards criminality. Respectable list though.
“time enough for love” by Heinlein. other than Alan Quartemain there is no better manly hero than Lazurus Long
Starship troopers gave me a whole different view on being a citizen of a nation and fighting for it.
No Walter Scott? No James Fennimore Cooper? No G.A. Henty? No Charles Kingsley? How can you possibly ignore them?
Also, Prester John by Buchan, and Tom Sawyer, of course.
BUT YOU’VE ALL OVERLOOKED ONE OF THE BEST ADVENTURE STORIES EVER WRITTEN: WATERSHIP DOWN BY RICHARD ADAMS.
I see Tarzan, but how can you leave off “Princess of Mars”. Also the “World of Tiers” series by Philip Jose Farmer is a must read.
@ Vince R
I posted a proposition on AOM’s “100 Books…” post that Ender’s game should be on the list. It brings the depth of morality, respect, mortality, honor, and humility to the table. A true “must read.”
Wow, what a great list! So many of the authors mentioned are so utterly peerless in the quality of their work, you could fill whole libraries with a handful of their names. And I’m happily surprised to see a few titles I didn’t expect to see, but has no one yet mentioned Gulliver’s Travels? Has no one mentioned Tom Jones?
Three by Clive Cussler? And Tom Clancy is omitted? I’d recommend Shibumi or The Eiger Sanction by Trevanian. Lost Horizon is another good read.
Good list. But no Lastof His Breed by Louis Lamore or The Age of Zues by James Lovengrove
Was looking for some reading material, and stumbled on a gold mine with this article! Thanks!
One adventure I’m nearly through reading (and which I’ve enjoyed very much) is “Mutiny on the Bounty” by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. I had no idea it was part of a trilogy, and so I am excited to read the next soon.
I never heard about “The Man Who Would Be King” before this, but the description piqued my interest. Thanks again!
The James Bond novels and the Mack Bolan/Executioner novels. Action/adventure-packed for sure…..
I am now inspired to return to some great books I once read and some new jewels I have not gotten to yet.
No adventure list can be complete without Louis L’Amour books like “The Last of the Breed”.
Fictional tale of the last descendant of an Indian tribe who is shot down near Russia and put in their remote prison (WW1 era i think) and escapes rather quickly but must adapt and rely on his skills he learned as a boy to evade capture and defeat his ultimate rival.
Also, if you likes “Hatchet” there are 4 more sequels (all good).
“The River” for when he returns to the wild with a reporter who wants to document his survival only to turn into a new adventure,
“Brian’s Winter” covers the alternate story-line if he had not been rescued in Hatchet and had to survive the cold winter.
“Brian’s Return” follows Brian as he realizes society isn’t his home anymore, and he returns to the woods.
“The Hunt” covers his tracking of a man-killer that destroyed almost all that he loved. It ties into the history of all the other books and is a captivating read.
I’m a huge fan of John D MacDonald and P.G. Wodehouse. John D’s Travis McGee series is, in my opinion, the single best series of Man Fiction to date. Read them and try to refute that claim…
“Plum” Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster books are light comedy that reads almost like a detective story; Bertie gets into some sort of trouble and Jeeves gets him out. Awesome!
Aside from title already quoted :
- The Grizzly King – James Oliver Curwood : James Oliver Curwood is one of the great in far north fiction, along with Jack London, and this one is his best that I know of, about hunters tracking grizzlies in the far north.
- Moonfleet – John Meade Falkner : Moonfleet inspired the movie by Fritz Lang, but is very unlike it. It is made of awesome. Young John Trenchard, in 18th england, search for the treasure of BlackBeard, a black diamond, and is helped in his ways by the local smugglers.
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre or The Death Ship – B. Traven : B. Traven wrote some of the best adventures books of all, along with great infos on Mexico and its political ways.
The Ballad of Flim Flam Man, by Guy Owen. Great book, great characters, great adventures. This is The Adventures Tom Sawyer for grown-ups.
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