Some Outstanding Books on Sailing, Exploration, and Other Great Adventures

Here is a long list of books for folks who love sailing and incredible expeditions over water or through wilderness around the world.

The Annapolis Book of Seamanship

The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat by Mark Nicholas

The Cruisers Handbook of Fishing by Scott and Wendy Bannerot

Tricks of the Trades by Bruce Van Sant

Island Hopping to the Caribbean by David and Annie LaVigne

Cape Horn to Starboard: The Classic Chronicle of Rounding the Horn in a 32-Foot Sloop by John Kretschmer

Sailing a Serious Ocean: Sailboats, Storms, Stories and Lessons Learned from 30 Years at Sea by John Kretschmer

Across Islands and Oceans: A Journey Alone Around the World By Sail and By Foot by James Baldwin

Bound for Distant Seas: A Voyage Alone to Asia Aboard the 28-Foot Sailboat Atom by James Baldwin

A Voyage for Madmen by Peter Nichols

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

Seaworthy: Adrift with William Willis in the Golden Age of Rafting by T.R. Pearson

Around the World in a Cement Boat: A Young Girl’s True Adventure by Cheryl Trzasko

Badluck Way: A Year on the Ragged Edge of the West by Bryce Andrews

A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya by Linda Schele and David Freidel

The Serpent and the Rainbow: A Harvard Scientist’s Astonishing Journey into the Secret Societies of Haitian Voodoo, Zombies, and Magic by Wade Davis

The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World by Wade Davis

One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rainforest by Wade Davis

The Lost Amazon: The Pioneering Expeditions of Richard Evans Schultes by Wade Davis

Life and Death in the Andes: On the Trail of Bandits, Heroes, and Revolutionaries by Kim MacQuarrie

In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin

The Travels of Marco Polo (I also highly recommend this 16-episode documentary, The Silk Road, on Curiosity Stream. The journalist Alfred de Montesquiou retraces the path Marco Polo took from Venice to China. You will learn so much about so many cultures and sub-cultures. It’s incredible.)

Aztec and Maya: The Complete Illustrated History by Charles Phillips

Empire’s Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day by Carrie Gibson

Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan’s Great Private Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe that Ended the Outlaws’ Bloody Reign by Stephan Talty

Beyond the Blue Horizon: How the Earliest Mariners Unlocked the Secrets of the Ocean by Brian Fagan

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel

Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen

Caribs: The Original Caribbean Pirates and the Founding Fathers of American Democracy by John Boyd

The History of Florida by Michael Gannon