Action & Adventure Stories

If pirates, jousting and horseback chases no longer appeal to you, you're too old or too boring. Adventure stories fell out of vogue among 20th century literary types who thought serious fiction had to be boring and depressing, but to those born with fire in their bones, adventure stories are deeply serious.

Not serious like existentialism or keeping a stiff upper lip, but serious like Robin Hood—devoted to protecting the downtrodden, committed to Maid Marian, sworn to fight injustice as long as a soul is in his body, always laughing and ready for a fight or a feast.

G. K. Chesterton wrote adventure stories because they best expressed the eternal joy that supported his generous frame. For those raised on Modern Adventure Stories, joy may seem an inappropriate word for an increasingly dark genre, but the fault lies with those who think adventures are forays into evil rather than romps with Gilbert Keith.

There's nothing evil about a good adventure. There may be bad guys (there ought to be), but if the Good Guy does his job there'll be more of his exploits to talk about than theirs. Because, should he be doing his job, the Hero will be sword-fighting, being clever, wooing, chasing and laughing to the detriment of his enemies on every page.

Average people don't have the adventures Heroes in Books have—they have the adventures of Modern Men in Books. But the way through the prosaic troubles of life isn't to immerse yourself in them, it's to let the Good Guys show The Way Out of Problems, and do your best to imitate them when you meet the less dramatic, but no less real, dangers of everyday existence.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Parent Categories
Action & Adventure Stories
80 Items found Print
Active Filters: Novels, Hardcover
Adventures of Robin Hood
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Paul Creswick, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
1991 Edition from Reader's Digest
for 6th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
African Queen
by C. S. Forester
from International Collectors Library
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Around the World in 80 Days
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Jules Verne
from Reader's Digest
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Around the World in Eighty Days
Sterling Classics
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Adventure for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Around the World in Eighty Days
Books of Wonder
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Barry Moser
from William Morrow & Company
Adventure for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Ben-Hur
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Lew Wallace
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Ben-Hur
by Lew Wallace
from Heritage Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Black Arrow
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Atheneum
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Call of the Wild
by Jack London
from Heritage Press
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Circus
by Alistair MacLean
from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in CLEARANCE & FREE BOOKS (Location: ZCLE)
David Balfour
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Action/Adventure for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
Eclectic English Classics
by Daniel Defoe, edited by Kate Stephens
from American Book Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
ECL: Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Al Davidson
from BiblioLife
for 4th-8th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Black Arrow
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Don Irwin
from Classic Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Call of the Wild
Educator Classic Library #11
by Jack London, illustrated by Ron King
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
ECL: The Heroes
Educator Classic Library #10
by Charles Kingsley, illustrated by Ron King
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Treasure Island
Educator Classic Library #1
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Don Irwin
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
Endless Knot
Song of Albion #3
by Stephen R. Lawhead
Reprint from Thomas Nelson Publishers
Celtic Fantasy for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Kidnapped
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
from Atheneum
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Kidnapped
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth and Graham Oakley
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Kidnapped (The Original Text)
by Robert Louis Stevenson, edited with an introduction and notes by Barry Menikoff
from Huntington Library
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Kim
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Rudyard Kipling
1st edition from Reader's Digest
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Kim
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Richard M. Powers
from Junior Deluxe Editions
for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
King Solomon's Mines
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by H. Rider Haggard
Reader's Digest ed from Reader's Digest
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Last of the Mohicans
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Reader's Digest
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Heritage Press
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$24.99
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper, illustrated by James Daugherty
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
Rainbow Classics
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
from World Publishing Company
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Lorna Doone (abridged)
by R. D. Blackmore, illustrated by Pauline D. Baynes
from American Education Publications
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Master of Ballantrae
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Heritage Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Master of Ballantrae
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Prince and the Pauper
Portland House Illustrated Classics
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Franklin Booth
from Portland House
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Prince and the Pauper
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Frank Merrill
from Reader's Digest
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Robinson Crusoe
Sterling Classics
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe
from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Daniel Defoe
from Reader's Digest
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Frances Brundage
No publication date from Saalfield Publishing Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Heritage Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Robinson Crusoe
Windermere Series 4
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Robinson Crusoe
Classics Club
by Daniel Defoe, with illustrations and maps from early editions
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Frances Brundage
from Barnes & Noble
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe
Windermere Readers #14
by Daniel Defoe, frontispiece by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Robinson Crusoe
Focus on the Family's Classic Collection
by Daniel Defoe, Introduction and Afterword by Joe L. Wheeler
from Focus on the Family
for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Robinson Crusoe
Windermere Series 1
by Daniel Defoe, frontispiece by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Robinson Crusoe
Windermere Series 2
by Daniel Defoe, frontispiece by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Robinson Crusoe
Windermere Series 3
by Daniel Defoe, frontispiece by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth and Louis & Frederick Rhead
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 10th-Adult
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Frank Godwin
from John C. Winston
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Silver Hand
Song of Albion #2
by Stephen R. Lawhead
1st edition from Lion Publishing
Celtic Fantasy for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Spy
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Junior Deluxe Editions
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Swiss Family Robinson
by Johann David Wyss, illustrated by Leon Gregori
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Talisman
International Collector's Library
by Sir Walter Scott
from International Collectors Library
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
The Pilot
Great Illustrated Classics
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Thirty-Nine Steps
by John Buchan
from Houghton Mifflin
Action Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Three Musketeers
Everyman's Library
by Alexandre Dumas
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$32.00
Three Musketeers
Windermere Readers #20
by Alexandre Dumas, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen
1954 Edition from Rand McNally
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Three Musketeers
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by Rowland Wheelwright
1999 Edition from Reader's Digest
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Three Musketeers
Macmillan Classics
by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by James Daugherty
2nd Printing, 1923 from Macmillan
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Three Musketeers
by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by Valenti Angelo
from Three Sirens Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Three Musketeers
Windermere Series 3
by Alexandre Dumas, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen
1954 Edition from Rand McNally
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Three Musketeers
Windermere Series 4
by Alexandre Dumas, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen
1933 printing from Rand McNally
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Tom Sawyer Abroad
by Mark Twain
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 7th-Adult
in Companion Library (Location: VIN-FIC)
Tom Sawyer Abroad
by Mark Twain
from SeaWolf Press
for 7th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.95
Tom Sawyer Abroad and Other Stories
by Mark Twain
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Treasure Island
Windermere Readers #16
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Milo Winter
1954 Edition from Rand McNally
for 5th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Treasure Island
Windermere Series 1
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 5th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Treasure Island
Windermere Series 2
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Milo Winter
1921 printing from Rand McNally
for 5th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Treasure Island
Windermere Series 3
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Milo Winter
1924 Printing from Rand McNally
for 5th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Treasure Island
Windermere Series 4
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Milo Winter
1939 Edition from Rand McNally
for 5th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Treasure Island and Kidnapped
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from International Collectors Library
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Way to Dusty Death
by Alistair MacLean
from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in CLEARANCE & FREE BOOKS (Location: ZCLE)
White Company
Books of Wonder
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (illustrated by N.C. Wyeth)
from William Morrow & Company
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
White Company
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by James Daugherty
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Works of Rudyard Kipling - 13 Volumes
by Rudyard Kipling
from Manhattan Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)