To the Limit—True Stories of Survival

To the Limit – True Stories of Survival

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363.34 PIC
Last Man Down: A Firefighter’s Story of Survival and Escape from the World Trade Center by Richard Picciotto

2002, 243 p.

In this gritty personal account of the September 11 World Trade Center attack, FDNY Battalion Chief Richard Picciotto tells his story. After rushing into the North Tower to rescue survivors, he was surrounded by smoke and carnage when he felt the South Tower collapse. Making the call to evacuate all rescue workers, he stayed behind to aid disabled victims, only to be trapped under the wreckage of the North Tower’s fall. A rugged story from one of the heroes of that day.

365.45 OUF
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir

2001, 293 p.

At the age of 5, Malika Oufkir was adopted by King Muhammad V of Morocco and was taken from her home to grow up among royalty. But when her father was killed for plotting to kill the king, Malika, her mother, and her four younger siblings were imprisoned. Together they endured twenty years of degradation, solitary confinement, and desperation. Her family’s passionate will to survive is almost beyond belief in this modern true story.

629.454 LOV
Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell

1994, 378 p.

On April 13, 1970, two days into their journey to the moon, the crew of Apollo 13 suddenly face life or death decisions when a ruptured oxygen tank puts their space mission and their very lives in jeopardy. Commanding officer Lovell tells the riveting story of this near disaster from the viewpoint of everyone involved. Technical details enhance the raw emotions of the crew and all those they left behind on earth in this landmark episode of space exploration.

796.522 SIM
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson

1990, 174 p.

This harrowing account of Simpson’s climbing expedition in the Peruvian Andes is fraught with peril, beauty, bravery, agony, and the will to live. One amazing story in two parts, Simpson and his partner Simon Yates ascend 21,000 feet into the peaks in the Andes amidst a vivid narrative that draws in even the most reserved of adventurers. But their descent brings on disaster, and when Simpson crushes his leg in a fall, his partner’s agonizing decision changes both of their lives forever.

910.45 ABO
Alone by Gerard d’Aboville

1993, 167 p.

When forty-five year old d’Aboville set out alone in a rowboat to cross the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the United States, he yearned for a challenge more vast and dangerous than his solo journey across the Atlantic. His rowboat was 26 feet long. The ocean was 6,200 miles wide. Between coasts lay typhoons, injuries, and desperate hunger. This story of his solitary battle against the ocean is harrowing and triumphant.

910.916345 MAA
Terrible Hours: The Man Behind the Greatest Submarine Rescue in History by Peter Maas

1999, 259 p.

When the U.S.S. Squalus plunges to the bottom of the Atlantic during its final test dive before deployment in 1939, the hours tick by as the crew’s survivors wait for any sign of a rescue. Charles “Swede” Momsen, a renegade naval officer responsible for developing virtually all existent undersea rescue devices, commands the rescue effort. This is the story of an incredible rescue and the life of the man behind it.

918.11 KAN
Running the Amazon by Joe Kane

1989, 277 p.

In August of 1985, writer Kane joined an eclectic group of young men and women to travel the full 4,200 miles of the Amazon River, a feat never before recorded. During the grueling journey by foot, whitewater raft, and kayak ultimately completed by only two members, Kane’s survival skills were more needed than his writing skills. From treacherous white water rapids to attacks from armed rebels to leadership struggles within the group, this first-hand narrative captures the physical drama and human drama that lay along the world’s mightiest river.

940.5426 BAR
Hiroshima Maidens by Rodney Barker

1985, 240 p.

Author Barker is an American who grew up with a sister adopted from Hiroshima, a survivor of the world’s most devastating nuclear blast. On a goodwill mission, 25 schoolgirls were brought to the United States for corrective plastic surgery, a trip that changed their lives in many different ways. Barker vividly recounts the stories of the girls and the benefactors of the trip.

940.5459 STA
In Harms Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton

2001, 333 p.

In one of the worst naval disasters in U.S. history, the solitary cruiser U.S.S. Indianapolis was torpedoed after returning from a secret mission at the end of World War II. The captain and crew spent four hellish days and nights without rescue, fighting for their lives in shark infested waters. Tragically few survived. This is a vivid account of the ordeal and the historic trial that ensued.

940.5475 NOR
We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese by Elizabeth Norman

1999, 327 p.

The Bataan Death March is a widely known part of WWII history, but the story of the military nurses trapped on Corregidor is less known. This book brings to the life the grueling experience of the ninety nurses aiding the failing army in the Philippines and later captured with the troops. Sent together to a prisoner of war camp, these resilient women struggle together to survive.

958.6 CHI
Over the Edge: The True Story of Four American Climbers’ Kidnap and Escape in the Mountains of Central Asia by Greg Child

2002, 284 p.

In August 2000, four young and politically naïve climbers set out to climb the Kyrgyzstan mountain range just 80 miles from Afghanistan. Suddenly captured at gunpoint by militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the next six days are an unending nightmare. Written completely in the present tense, this hour-by-hour drama recounts those six terrifying days and also explores the politics and the mountaineering beauty of the area.

967.73 BOW
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden

1999, 386 p.

This face-paced nonfiction novel recreates the desperate hours of American soldiers trapped in the center of Mogadishu, Somalia, fighting for their lives. U.S. Rangers and elite Delta Force troops set out on a short term mission to capture high-ranking deputies to Mohamed Farrah Aidd, but when angry crowds downed their helicopter with a grenade, their military purpose in Somalia evaporated amidst their desperation to survive. The thoughts of soldiers course through the pages of this book, making the battle come alive.

Biography NIELSEN, J
Ice Bound: A Doctor’s Incredible Battle For Survival at the South Pole by Jerri Nielsen

2000, 362 p.

Dr. Jerri Nielsen was planning on a routine tour of Antarctica in 1998, but her life is suddenly put in jeopardy when she finds a lump in her breast. As Antarctic days grow shorter, she awaits a rescue team battling fierce weather. Ultimately she performs her own mastectomy, but her decision begins to look tragic as brutal weather thwarts efforts to bring her safely home.

Prepared by Gloria Walsh-Rock,September 2002