MY SIX BEST BOOKS

BEN FOGLE, 45, is the TV presenter and adventurer who first appeared on reality TV show Castaway 2000. He has hosted Countryfile, Animal Clinic and New Lives In The Wild and has rowed across the Atlantic, trekked across Antarctica and climbed Everest. His book, Up: My Life’s Journey To The Top Of Everest, is out now (William Collins, £20). THE ASCENT OF RUM DOODLE

by WE Bowman

Vintage, £9.99 Probably my favourite book, a comic account of a mad explorer who climbs the tallest mountain in the world.

It’s based on the old heroic climbers who went up Everest. It’s the funniest book I have read and I’ve been trying to buy the film rights. THE WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD

by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Vintage, £11.99 This is by one of Captain Scott’s men in Antarctica about a sub-expedition to collect penguin eggs when they were caught in the worst weather ever. I drew inspiration from it when I was in Antarctica and up Everest.

It shows that we are capable of extraordinary things. THE POISONWOOD BIBLE

by Barbara Kingsolver

Faber, £8.99 About a missionary family who go to the Congo. It’s almost a nod to the series I do, New Lives In The Wild, when I have spent time with missionary families. Her style of writing is vivid and visceral. A MAN CALLED OVE

by Fredrik Backman

Sceptre, £8.99 One of a genre that I label “Scandi charm”. It’s a great tale of how we make assumptions about people, in this case how someone you think is a grumpy old man is actually lovely underneath. I think they do things rather beautifully in Scandinavia. ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE

by Gabriel García Márquez

Penguin, £8.99 I’ve always loved magical realism and read this in Spanish. It takes a while to understand it but it takes me back to my years travelling in Latin America. I can’t wait to revisit the book one day with my children. VIETNAM

by Max Hastings

William Collins, £30 My children were asking me about the Vietnam War not long ago and I found myself unable to explain why it happened. Hastings brings history to life on the page. What a wretched war that was.