Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know

Sir Ranulph Fiennes looks back on a life spent in the most dangerous and remote parts of the world. He has been an elite soldier, an athlete, a mountaineer and an explorer, and he has come close to dying many times. Frostbite cost him nearly half his fingers.

This is his autobiography. He recounts leading expeditions across the globe and becoming the first person to reach both Poles on land. He also tells how he found the lost city of Ubar in Oman.

One episode stands out: his attempt to walk to the North Pole alone and without support. That expedition cost him several fingers and very nearly his life. Elsewhere the book touches on the time he almost took over from Sean Connery as James Bond. It also covers the millions of pounds he has raised for charity, work that brought him a polar medal and an OBE.

This edition was re-published for his 75th birthday and adds two new chapters that bring the story up to date. They cover further mountains, including his climb to the top of Mount Everest, and more risky adventures. It is a first-person account of expedition life, told by the man who lived it, and it moves between polar ice, desert and mountain.