Those who lived defied the most extreme odds. Those who survived had a story to tell that almost no one believed.

The American sailing ship Commerce shipwrecked off the coast of Africa in 1815, but the crew did not drown. Instead the men were captured and enslaved, suffered from dehydration and starvation and had their clothing reduced to tatters. It was a tribute to resourcefulness that they did not all disappear into the shifting sands of what we now call the Sahara Desert.

Their remarkable survival story is told in great detail and with considerable drama in the book “Skeletons on the Zahara,” by Dean King and is the best outdoors or adventure book I read in 2005.

Under the command of Capt. John Riley, 37, of Middletown, Conn., whose leadership extended from ship to shore and whose creativity greatly enhanced the chances of the 14 men returning home, the crew of the 220-ton, 86-foot-long Commerce endured much.

The boat wrecked by cliffs near the Western Sahara in the then-empire of Morocco.

That was the beginning. At the end of a voyage that started in May and the rigors of captivity that concluded in November, Riley’s weight had dropped from 240 pounds to 90. The privations that link the two numbers are part of a gripping narrative King has penned.

Here are a few other outdoors or adventure books read during 2005 that I recommend as holiday gifts:

“The Old Man’s Boy Grows Older” by Robert Ruark. Ruark was possibly the best hunting writer ever. His Old Man and the Boy series of magazine stories were encapsulated in a popular book. This volume followed.

“Sowbelly – The Obsessive Quest for the World Record Largemouth Bass” by Monte Burke sounds as if he had a fun time documenting it. If you fish for bass this is a hoot of a book. The only thing that could be more fun would be to check out in person the fabulous bass lakes mentioned.

“The Wilderness Hunter” by Teddy Roosevelt. The former president hunted the American West and he hunted in foreign countries. And luckily, he almost always wrote down his adventures.

“The Best of Zane Grey Outdoorsman.” Grey is best remembered as the author of westerns, but the writings closest to his heart were his outdoors magazine pieces. When there were no airplanes to whisk fishermen around the world, Grey traveled to Mexico, Tahiti and other exotic ports. His stories hold up well over time and there are now several collections available.