Will to Live: Dispatches from the Edge of Survival

Why I read this book?I've been a fan of Les Stroud's Survivorman and Beyond Survival television shows. There are lots of twists on the televised survival story. Stroud's is that he goes it relatively alone. He is his own camera crew and, aside from the rescue crew a radio call away, he's only go himself to count on unless it comes to life of death. Despite his penchant for being dramatic, I really enjoy his survival knowledge. I've had a couple of his books Survive and The Will to Live on my Amazon wishlist for some time now.My one sentence summary:More often than not, the only thing that determines whether a person makes it out of a survival situation is luck and their will to survive.Kudos:I'll admit that I am a survival junky so I love reading about the real life survival stories Les Stroud recounts in The Will to Live. The chapters interweave some well-known and perhaps less well-known survival stories with both positive (they lived) and negative (they died) outcomes along with his own experiences before and after he became Survivorman. Stroud also throws in his opinion as a survivalist about what other survivors (or not) could have down with the resources at hand or how he would have wanted to handle the situation.Quibbles:Stroud's writing is much like his narration on his TV shows. He likes to be dramatic. Of course when you are reading about life and death survival stories there is no shortage of drama. At times it felt like Stroud was playing arm chair survivalist, except that his credentials make his input more akin to expert opinion.Final Verdict:High recommend for anyone who is interested in quick rundowns on some amazing stories of survival. If you like Survivorman, you'll love reading about the behind the scenes of Stroud's TV programs and the tidbits of his personal life that are thrown in.

As a survival skills enthusiast I had already owned many survival books. While the information in those books are really good but I found the writing style are confusing and sometimes redundant. But this book, Les Stroud is a good writer. he captured the readers' heart by good storytelling and simple yet powerful writing style. As a professional published author myself his writing astonishes me and I was hooked up since the first page.By telling the real stories of survivors (and also who didn't survive the ordeals) Stroud clarified what they did right and wrong which I found profoundly useful.Most of all, as a personal financial crisis expert myself (I give lectures on this topic for many years) I found the information on survival skills that Stroud laid out thoroughly throughout the book is very useful to financial makeover. Many debtors make the same mistakes as people who got lost in the wilderness : *Fail to read the maps or compass. Fail to prepare in advance. Fail to have backup plans. Only follow the guide or leader and never teach themselves to survive alone. Conflicted group dynamic. Make swift decisions based on fatigue and the need to get home quick . And never think of the worst case scenarios and plan.* These are the common mistakes debtors always do. Therefore I am certain that survival skills can be crucial either you are trapped in the wilderness or in urban life crisis. The skills are to make you get out of trouble ALIVE.Parents should have your children read this book. Teachers should hand this book over to students. And life coaches should have the book as an additional guide. It's 5 stars from me.

Always loved watching Les Stroud on TV. This is the first book I've read by him. While Les tells his opinion on what he thinks people in different survival situations did right or wrong he always tell you he wasn't there, and that in the end these people survived, whether some decisions made were right or wrong. I enjoy he's thoughts on the subject and he's a guy you'd love to pick his brain for more information. Les is a down to earth guy it seems. One you'd love to have a beer with and hang out with. He knows his craft and tries to help explain every situation so that the reader has and idea of what it would truely be like to HAVE to survive. Les Stround even says that with all his training on surviving, that he himself has truely never been in a survival...(live or die) situation. He comes as close as he can with his tv show, but it's still a well thought out show and he tries to learn as much as he can before going into a remote area on the planet that he has never been. This aids him in what he can and cannot eat. Wild animals, he should watch out for etc. He also studies maps and the terrain. This doesn't take anything away from what he does, he's as tough as nails and knowledge is a huge key part of survival. He realizes most people that are in a truely survival situation are probably not going to have the knowledge he does prepare for on his show. These are true stories of people who have went beyond what most would or could do to stay alive. I as well as Les realize this and look up to the people who he talks about in his book. I recommend this book highly.

I'm not always convinced about Les's credibility although I have to say I find him very likeable. This book is a collection of short stories, all of them true and verifiable, from jungle to tundra and desert, a great read. Well worth the money. Highly recommended.

Content not true to the title. One would have expected more real life survival stories. Les's own experiences seem out of place, they do not really augment the book.

I purchased this book just to read about real life adventures of different people caught is a survival for life situation. However, it turned out to be an excellent teaching and training book on survival situations.Les Stroud, creator and host of TV program `Survivorman' has analyzed 7 survival situations for attributes of knowledge of survival, element of luck, survival kit, and will to live to determine what was the combination thereof for success or failure of a survival mission.The accidents Stroud has chosen are of the extreme kind, but I can safely say that there is likelihood that anyone of the outdoorsy type can encounter one of those. Stroud keeps the incident going interesting and at the same time provides a hindsight analysis of what was going wrong and what was going right. In addition, he also provides insight from his own experience of what ought to have been done correctly in those dire circumstances.I liked the way, the book has been organized with colored blurbs appearing every now and then on some salient points to take note of. The book has got some good colored and black and white pictures as well.Finally, it is the learning that lovers of the outdoors will get from Stroud on survival situations that I liked the most. In a way, this book reminded me of Ed Viesturs' K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain, with much advice coming from that legendary mountain climber.

Les Stroud is perhaps "the" survival expert on the planet. After spending dozens of weeks surviving alone in environments across the globe, he's very experienced with what it takes to live. Although he's never been in a true life-or-death involuntary survival situation, he is clearly quite experienced. This book is not about Les. It's about people who found themselves, involuntarily, in life-or-death survival situations.From arctic expeditions gone wrong, to family trips ending badly, to young men's adventurous ambitions biting off more than they can chew, there's a wide range of different scenarios here. As a warning, not all of them end happily. Les provides comments throughout each of the stories, offering his opinions on the actions and decisions of the participants in each story. He also offers (in side boxes) advice on how to survive in each environment. In between most of the chapters Les ties in some of the participants' experiences to those of his own, either on Survivorman, or in some related activity (e.g., adventure racing).All in all, the stories contained within are amazing. Some are familiar, some are not. But they are all real, harrowing, and very inspiring. Even those that end badly offer important lessons about the importance of preparation, knowledge, and the will to survive. And that's really the bottom line of this book. The most important thing for survival really does seem to be the will to live. Luck is pretty close, and knowledge and equipment are certainly important too, but without the will to live, nothing else matters. This is an excellent book for all fans of Les, survival stories, and/or survival knowledge. I hope I'm never in a survival situation, but if I am, I know that it will be the will to survive that lets me get through it.

I found Les Stroud's book super inspiring and motivating, not just for survival but for life in general. Beyond that, the stories were great and I learned intuitive survival tips I would have never thought of on my own. Highly recommended!