Natural Born Heroes: How a Daring Band of Misfits Mastered the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance (Unabridged) Natural Born Heroes: How a Daring Band of Misfits Mastered the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance (Unabridged)

Natural Born Heroes: How a Daring Band of Misfits Mastered the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance (Unabridged‪)‬

    • 4.2 • 51 Ratings
    • $16.99

    • $16.99

Publisher Description

The best-selling author of Born to Run now travels to the Mediterranean, where he discovers that the secrets of ancient Greek heroes are still alive and well on the island of Crete, and ready to be unleashed in the muscles and minds of casual athletes and aspiring heroes everywhere. 

After running an ultramarathon through the Copper Canyons of Mexico, Christopher McDougall finds his next great adventure on the razor-sharp mountains of Crete, where a band of Resistance fighters in World War II plotted the daring abduction of a German general from the heart of the Nazi occupation. How did a penniless artist, a young shepherd, and a playboy poet believe they could carry out such a remarkable feat of strength and endurance, smuggling the general past thousands of Nazi pursuers, with little more than their own wits and courage to guide them? 

McDougall makes his way to the island to find the answer and retrace their steps, experiencing firsthand the extreme physical challenges the Resistance fighters and their local allies faced. On Crete, the birthplace of the classical Greek heroism that spawned the likes of Herakles and Odysseus, McDougall discovers the tools of the hero—natural movement, extraordinary endurance, and efficient nutrition. All of these skills, McDougall learns, are still practiced in far-flung pockets throughout the world today.

More than a mystery of remarkable people and cunning schemes, Natural Born Heroes is a fascinating investigation into the lost art of the hero, taking us from the streets of London at midnight to the beaches of Brazil at dawn, from the mountains of Colorado to McDougall’s own backyard in Pennsylvania, all places where modern-day athletes are honing ancient skills so they’re ready for anything. 

Just as Born to Run inspired readers to get off the treadmill, out of their shoes, and into the natural world, Natural Born Heroes will inspire them to leave the gym and take their fitness routine to nature—to climb, swim, skip, throw, and jump their way to their own heroic feats.

GENRE
Nonfiction
NARRATOR
NGS
Nicholas Guy Smith
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
13:56
hr min
RELEASED
2015
April 14
PUBLISHER
Random House Audio
SIZE
859.3
MB

Customer Reviews

Ryan Top ,

Great adventure

I very much enjoyed Natural Born Heroes. I had read it previously when it was originally published, but revisited the audiobook when the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare movie was announced and I recalled how interesting the history of Churchill’s “Dirty Tricksters” was to me. This particular tale is incredible and McDougall’s portrayal is well written, and fun. He juxtaposes the (at that time) modern storylines of ”hero” attributes well and it does not feel like two separate books. However, I think the book works best as a historical narrative and should not be looked at as a fitness or self-help book. It appears that some of the other reviewers went in expecting that and were disappointed.

The battle of Crete and the contributions of the Greeks in World War II is not a common part of the World War II historical record that we learn much about. Like many other wartime stories, the ability of “normal”, every day people to dig deep and find bravery and resilience in the face of overwhelming odds is inspiring and incredible to read. Definitely recommended!

Josey86 ,

Should Have Quit While He Was Ahead

I have mixed feelings about this book. It’s a great WWII story. It’s a great adventure story. It has some interesting points and ideas about exercise that really get you thinking. Unfortunately, this is not a book for someone struggling in their relationship with food or recovering from (or suffering with) an eating disorder. The book advocates a type diet that has been proven time and again to not have the claimed health benefits and even cause harm to one’s health.

This book even goes as far as to claim Paleo/Keto/Atkins aren’t diets because you’re not counting calories or restricting portions. How ridiculous. You’re restricting whole food groups! That is a diet, pure and simple. It doesn’t matter if the Lakers all started doing it and Kobe Bryant liked it. It’s madness. Our ancestors knew that bodies came in all different shapes and sizes. Our ancestors knew one’s best bet is to eat as many varieties of food as possible. The ridiculous notion of sugar addiction and it being as addicting as illegal drugs has been debunked so many times, for so many years, it shouldn’t even have made it into this book.

I wanted to love this book the way I loved Born to Run, but I should have taken the hint with the fatphobia in that book and just stayed away from this one. This is just far and away scientifically disproven nonsense being touted as health/nutrition advice. Sorry, I didn’t finish this book because I couldn’t take anymore. I just couldn’t do it. It had a cool story and a cool adventure to learn more about that story, but the focus should have stayed in that area as opposed to veering into nutrition myth and legend.

RichardBoi123 ,

Fraudulent marketing

Not sure why the books premise is described as it is very misleading listen to the preview

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