Natural Born Heroes

How a Daring Band of Misfits Mastered the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance

By: Christopher McDougall

Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith

Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

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 listeners 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.

©2015 Christopher McDougall (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A mash note to physical endurance. . . . McDougall redefines the heroic ideal, establishing heroism as a skill set rather than a virtue. . . . [And] schools the reader in the art of the champion. . . . The essential narrative here, the twisty tale of a kidnapping that incredibly goes right, is exciting. It is balanced out with the journalistic account of McDougall’s entry into the world of the hero. His personal quest to ‘rewild the psyche’ might seem an awkward fit with war storytelling. But under McDougall’s sure hand the combination improbably works. Kind of like kidnapping a German general on an island swarming with Nazi troops.” —NPR Books

“A heady confection that encompasses, among other subjects, military history, archaeology, Greek mythology, neat ways to kill a man and ideas on health and fitness that might just change your life. . . . [McDougall] constructs a fascinating edifice of ideas . . . and eventually finds a modern-day hero of his own. But the pleasures of the book are as much to do with the fascinating panoply of characters, war heroes all, British, Commonwealth and Cretan, whose exploits contributed so much to Hitler's downfall.” —The Independent (London)

“In the thoroughly absorbing Natural Born Heroes, which tracks heroism from the times of Zeus and Odysseus to the World War II bravery of a motley crew of fighters, Christopher McDougall makes it clear that . . . heroes, both ancient and modern, are not somehow supernaturally endowed after all. Indeed, they may come by their skills quite naturally. . . . His extensive knowledge of fitness training, nutrition and physiology winds artfully around a tale of superhuman resistance during the Nazi occupation of the Greek island of Crete. . . . [McDougall] solves this mystery with a witty eye for every detail, inspiring his own captive audience along the way.” — BookPage (The Top Pick of the Month: Nonfiction)

Tremendous!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. If I could have I would have! This is an important book. As much as I liked Born to Run, this book is far superior in many ways. Fans of WWII military history, physical culture and Classical Greek civilization will enjoy this book, without question. From start to finish, the subject matter is compelling and well-researched. Any negative reviews of this book are insincere attempts to dissuade people from reading what amounts to one of the best books on the topic of heroism in a very long time. Read this book, it is inspiring beyond measure.

Amazingly educational and insightful

Loved the mix of history, education, and investigation that this book dives into. I'm on listen #3 right now and have passed this along to many friends.

Rhyme and reason

There is a rhyme and a reason for everything. there was a reason the Cretan's were so successful back in the Greek god days. those stories might be exaggerated but they were based off people like in this book. this is a very good story, but did jump around a lot and was sometimes hard to follow. but still worth the money!

Interesting subject, scattered organization

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as others. It seemed the author was trying to force the idea that natural movement-based training is somehow unique to the time and place of the story (WWII in Crete). However, you could pick almost any location at any time and find a story of extraordinary physical human achievement. Many stories would support the idea that natural movement is how we are supposed to move, and it leads to fit people with great endurance.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I think it needed a couple more rounds of editing; it was somewhat disjointed with a few threads that went nowhere.

Any additional comments?

The book provided some interesting history about exercise science, but did a poor job of making the unnecessary argument that natural movement is the only way to train. For example, the author completely discounts yoga, obviously without making any effort to understand what yoga even is. He even sneers at Brazilian jujitsu as being non-realistic because it focuses on ground fighting. Parkour keeps coming up, but no real connection is made between it and the Crete storyline. As I mentioned above, a bit more editing could have made this a tighter book.

Enjoyable listen...

But it could be a little hard to follow listening to it, with him bouncing around time periods so much.

ehhh

tough to get through the first half, not enough science and too much Nazi story. rather of listened to born to run for the 5th time...

A great follow up to Born to Run.

An amazing fantastic story filled science facts & knowledge. Highly recommend for every type runner out there.

not Born to Run...but pretty good.

so this is not another life changer like Born to Run, but it is a cool book. The author does a good job blending two books, one on natural movement, and another about a badass named Party who captured one of Hitlers generals on the island of Crete. The reader is not the best for this book, almost works, but he just do want have the range (man, women, child, German, British, etc...)needed for this book. Makes me wonder how awesome this book could have been with the right reader...

After Born To Run, It's Only "Good"

What made the experience of listening to Natural Born Heroes the most enjoyable?

Born to Run blew my mind, changed my life. That's why my standards for this book were just too high. It was fun but too much story for me and not enough practical science. I'm a scientist, though, so that's a huge disclaimer. He had such an opportunity, though! Especially with his interesting info about muscle fascia...he just didn't hit the depth and info I needed to be satisfied.

What did you like best about this story?

I LOVED how McDougall called bullshit (can I say that here?) on the gatorade industry and how we are supposedly "under hydrated" all the time and "can't trust our bodies" to communicate our thirst. His take on LDL (again calling bullshit) is also excellent and grounded in good science.

Have you listened to any of Nicholas Guy Smith’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Nicholas Guy Smith? Seriously?

A story that touches on many aspects.

This book is unlike any I've read/listened to before in that it's almost a combination of survival education stories, human spirit, history lessons of forgotten biology, WWII, health & food and adventure of course. If you read and liked Deep Survival, The Wave, Sailing Around the World, What Doesn't Kill Us, Unthinkable etc.. than there is a very strong chance you will get a lot out of this book.