Emma Barrett and Paul Martin

Dr Emma Barrett holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Birmingham and is Honorary Researcher in Psychology at Lancaster University. For more than a decade she has led a behavioural science research team that collates, conducts, and communicates research for a wide range of public sector customers. She has also run popular blogs on deception and on forensic psychology for the general public. In 2010 she was awarded the OBE, partly in recognition of her achievements in translating research findings into practical advice and guidance for non-specialist audiences.

Dr Paul Martin was educated at the University of Cambridge and at Stanford University, where he was Harkness Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He subsequently lectured and researched in behavioural biology at Cambridge and was a Fellow of Wolfson College. He is an honorary Fellow at Imperial College London. Paul is author or co-author of several science books including Measuring Behaviour, The Sickening Mind, Counting Sheep and Making Happy People.

"No aspect of extreme adventuring is left unexamined, and the reader comes away with a deep understanding of why and how people thrive at the edges." - Christie Aschwanden, International New York Times

"Extreme is littered with fatalities, yet the inspirational stories of survival... expose humanity's remarkable resilience." - Nature, Emily Banham

"Read from the comfort of an armchair, this book can provide a vicarious experience of precarious situations most of us would rather not be in." - Network Reviews, David Lorimer

"an intriguing examination... No aspect of extreme adventuring is left unexamined, and the reader comes away with a deep understanding of why and how people thrive at the edges." - New York Times, Christie Aschwanden

"rich and often compelling book" - Marcus Berkmann, Daily Mail

"Deeply researched ... the book is amusing, intriguing, exciting and a little horrifying." - Caroline Morley, New Scientist