Real stories can touch our humanity and move us to understand ourselves, as well as the person we are reading about. The adventurers here provide a mosaic of Australia over the past century, a priceless legacy. Here, 15 fiercely independent men and women who have lived life exuberantly cast a revealing light on a fast vanishing Australia. These subjects share their unique experiences with a cocky modern world often focused more on youth. What's it like to hunt wild buffalo on horseback, or to hover calmly underwater to avoid the bends while being circled by bronze whaler sharks? What's it like to escape twice from Nazi SS camps, or to capture rogue saltwater crocodiles, or to walk in the footsteps of Burke and Wills, totally alone apart from four camels? What's it like to raise 14children in a one-room house, to really make a difference in the fraught world of aboriginal education, or to inspire as an innovator or artist? While there are adventures aplenty, a deep wisdom lies at the core of this book. A wisdom born from action not theory, a wisdom that can come from following the road less traveled, a wisdom that will resonate with the reader."