Although survival is often taken for granted - something every human strives to achieve on a daily basis - it is just this everyday imperative that makes for the most exciting stories. When something goes wrong, when survival is threatened, often by something so simple and sudden as a boat overturning or a traveler losing his way, this is when the necessity of survival is no longer just another daily chore. This is when something so intrinsic as breathing or swallowing becomes the most essential need and the most sought after desire.With contributions from:Jack London, John Wesley Powell, Mayne Reid, Daniel Defoe, Owen Chase, John Muir, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Victor Hugo, Osborne Russell, Richard Henry Dana Jr., Apsley Cherry-Garrard, and Lamar UnderwoodIn no other type of story will the reader be exposed to conflict as much as in a story of survival, where morality, emotion, empathy, self-worth, courage, will, strength, and determination are all at odds. This is when the ends can almost always justify the means. This is when the laws of nature overrule the laws of man. And, this is when you really get to see what someone is made of, how much he values life, especially his own.