John Smithson

True story of the first solo, non-stop, round-the-world boat race, and the psychological toll it took on its competitors. Sponsored by the Sunday Times of London, the much-ballyhooed event attracted a field of nine, including amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst, who set out to circumnavigate the globe in late 1968. Battling treacherous seas and his own demons, Crowhurst almost immediately comes apart as he faces the isolation of nine months on the high...

In April 2003 Aron Ralston, a 27-year-old hiker, fell and was trapped in a narrow crevasse, his right arm wedged against the rock wall by a boulder. Mr. Ralston's ordeal was a struggle for survival and a profound existential crisis. He had gone to Bluejohn Canyon, Utah for a rock-climbing weekend alone. Not telling anyone where he is going is part of the point: real freedom means getting a clean break from civilization and the burdens of family, friends,...