Completely Mad: Tom McClean, John Fairfax, and the Epic Race to Row Solo Across the Atlantic

In this colorful account, Hansen (First Man), a history professor at Auburn University, narrates the 1969 voyages undertaken by two British men to cross the Atlantic by rowboat. Drawing on interviews with McClean (Fairfax died in 2012), Hansen writes that the two were nearly diametrical opposites: Fairfax, 31, was a “profligate gambler [and] playboy,” and 26-year-old McClean was a paratrooper who’d overcome a hardscrabble childhood. The men began from opposite ends of the Atlantic—McClean departed Newfoundland on May 17 and headed toward Ireland about four months after Fairfax had launched from the Canary Islands aiming for Florida. Hansen captures in vivid, sometimes visceral detail both the physical challenges (McClean’s hands swelled so severely that he could barely grasp the oars, and he bit open the blisters to release the water) and psychological tolls (in a ship log, Fairfax describes “shedding the veneer with which civilization had coated my animal instincts”) the men endured. In the end, Fairfax finished about a week before his rival, though only after 180 grueling days at sea. Hansen’s spirited entry provides a riveting examination of the human will to survive, and readers will be fascinated—if occasionally mystified—by the determination the men displayed. This is perfect for those seeking adventure without leaving their couch. (July)