The Third Man Factor Surviving the Impossible
- 6 May 2010
- 9781847674203
- £10.99
- 304 pp
- 128×196mm
- 2 Jul 2009
- 9781847677709
- £8.79
- 304 pp
In a few words
Incredible true stories of a life-saving presence experienced in extreme adventuring situations – backed up by weighty research
In a few words
Incredible true stories of a life-saving presence experienced in extreme adventuring situations – backed up by weighty research
Founded on astonishing near-death tales . . .The Third Man Factor is a more thoughtful investigation of a strange "presence" felt by lonely explorers.
James Mcconnachie
Sunday TimesGeiger recounts many, many tales of people who have found themselves in extreme situations, and felt a ghostly presence helping them. Almost without exception, they are exciting, edge-of-the-seat tales. Some of them might be familiar, which is no bad thing; it's like revisiting the greatest hits of exploration and daredevilry, but from a new angle ... These are gripping tales, and Geiger tells them well
Melanie Mcgrath
Evening StandardFounded on astonishing near-death tales . . .The Third Man Factor is a more thoughtful investigation of a strange "presence" felt by lonely explorers.
James Mcconnachie
Sunday TimesGeiger recounts many, many tales of people who have found themselves in extreme situations, and felt a ghostly presence helping them. Almost without exception, they are exciting, edge-of-the-seat tales. Some of them might be familiar, which is no bad thing; it's like revisiting the greatest hits of exploration and daredevilry, but from a new angle ... These are gripping tales, and Geiger tells them well
Melanie Mcgrath
Evening StandardMore about
the book
The Third Man Factor tells the revealing story behind an extraordinary idea: that people at the very edge of death, often adventurers or explorers, experience a benevolent presence beside them who encourages them to make one final effort to survive.
If only a handful of people had ever experienced the Third Man, it might be dismissed as an unusual delusion but over the years the experience has occurred again and again: to mountaineers, divers, polar explorers, prisoners of war, solo sailors, aviators, astronauts and 9/11 survivors. All have escaped traumatic events only to tell strikingly similar stories of having experienced the close presence of a helper or guardian.
In The Third Man Factor John Geiger combines history, scientific analysis and great adventure stories to explain this secret to survival, the Third Man who – in the words of legendary Italian climber Reinhold Messner – ‘leads you out of the impossible’.
More about
the book
The Third Man Factor tells the revealing story behind an extraordinary idea: that people at the very edge of death, often adventurers or explorers, experience a benevolent presence beside them who encourages them to make one final effort to survive.
If only a handful of people had ever experienced the Third Man, it might be dismissed as an unusual delusion but amazingly, over the years, the experience has occurred again and again: to mountaineers, divers, polar explorers, prisoners of war, solo sailors, aviators, astronauts and 9/11 survivors. All have escaped traumatic events only to tell strikingly similar stories of having experienced the close presence of a helper or guardian. The mysterious force has been explained as everything from hallucination to divine intervention while recent neurological research suggests something else.
In The Third Man Factor John Geiger combines history, scientific analysis and great adventure stories to explain this secret to survival, the Third Man who – in the words of legendary Italian climber Reinhold Messner – ‘leads you out of the impossible’.
Geiger seeks the opinion of a range of neurological researchers, and sets out these expert opinions with zest . . . There is interesting material here on the human organisms's capacity to endure.
Sara Wheeler
Literary ReviewGeiger's account combines history, scientific analysis and true-life tales to haunting effect.
Extraordinary . . . compelling . . . John Geiger's book combines history, scientific analysis and great adventure stories and produces much food for thought.
Jane Tester
ReFresh magazineAuthor John Geiger has now, for the first time, collected these stories in a remarkable new book. Whatever the explanation for this mysterious phenomenon such 'third man' experiences seem to be an extrememly powerful force for survival when death seems imminent . . . Some of the most amazing survival stories ever are told by John Geiger's 'The Third Man'.
Geiger seeks the opinion of a range of neurological researchers, and sets out these expert opinions with zest . . . There is interesting material here on the human organisms's capacity to endure.
Sara Wheeler
Literary ReviewGeiger's account combines history, scientific analysis and true-life tales to haunting effect.
Extraordinary . . . compelling . . . John Geiger's book combines history, scientific analysis and great adventure stories and produces much food for thought.
Jane Tester
ReFresh magazineAuthor John Geiger has now, for the first time, collected these stories in a remarkable new book. Whatever the explanation for this mysterious phenomenon such 'third man' experiences seem to be an extrememly powerful force for survival when death seems imminent . . . Some of the most amazing survival stories ever are told by John Geiger's 'The Third Man'.
John Geiger
View profileJohn Grigsby Geiger was born in Ithaca, New York, and graduated in history from the University of Alberta. The author of five non-fiction books, including the international bestseller Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition, his work has been translated into ten languages. He also authored, with Dr Peter Suedfeld, the scholarly study ‘The Sensed Presence as a Coping Resource in Extreme Environments’. He is editorial board editor at the Globe and Mail, and a senior fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto. He is a governor of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and chair of the Society’s Expeditions Committee, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Explorer’s Club, and a Member of the Advisory Board of Wings Worldquest. He received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal.
John Geiger
View profileJohn Grigsby Geiger was born in Ithaca, New York, and graduated in history from the University of Alberta. The author of four books of non-fiction, his work has been translated into nine languages. He is Editorial Board Editor at The Globe and Mail, and was 2004-05 St. Clair Balfour Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto. He is a Governor of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Chairman of the Society’s Expeditions Committee, and a Member of the Advisory Board of Wings Worldquest.
