The incredible true survival story of one man's record-breaking fourteen months lost at sea.

On 17th November, 2012, Salvador Alvarenga left the coast of Mexico for a two-day fishing trip. A vicious storm killed his engine and the current dragged his boat out to sea. The storm picked up and carried him West, deeper into the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Alvarenga would not touch solid ground again for fourteen months. When he was washed ashore on January 30th, 2014, he had drifted over 9,000 miles.

Three dozen cruise ships and container vessels passed nearby. Not one stopped for the stranded fisherman. He considered suicide on multiple occasions - including offering himself up to a pack of circling sharks. But Alvarenga developed a method of survival that kept his body and mind intact long enough for the Pacific Ocean to spit him up onto a remote palm-studded island. Crawling ashore, he was saved by a local couple living in their own private castaway paradise.

Based on dozens of hours of interviews with Alvarenga and his colleagues, search and rescue officials, the medical team that saved his life and the remote islanders who nursed him back to normality, 438 Days by Jonathan Franklin is an epic tale of survival and one man's incredible story of beating the ultimate odds.

The incredible true survival story of one man's record-break 438 days lost at sea

About the Author
Based in Santiago, Chile, Jonathan Franklin regularly reports for The Guardian, Washington Post, National Geographic and Esquire. He also works with the team at 'Retro Report' producing documentaries broadcast by the New York Times. Franklin's books include 438 Days and 33 Men, the exclusive account of the Chilean miners trapped nearly a kilometre underground. 33 Men became a bestseller in the UK and US, and was translated into nineteen languages.


Book Information
ISBN 9781509800193
Author Jonathan Franklin
Format Paperback
Page Count 300
Imprint Pan Books
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Weight(grams) 216g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 129mm * 24mm