Review

Mud, Sweat and Tears - Bear Grylls

Originally published 2012

From the archive: this piece was first published on ProCamping in 2012, not long after the book came out. Bear Grylls has done plenty since, but the book itself covers his life up to that point.

Mud, Sweat and Tears is the autobiography of Bear Grylls. Bear has led a fascinating life — at the time of writing he was only 38, so there was clearly plenty ahead of him. Bear had perhaps become a household name from his Discovery Channel TV series Man vs. Wild, but he has done so much more.

His most high-profile achievement is becoming the youngest Briton, at 23, to summit Mount Everest — just 18 months after injuring his back in a parachuting accident. The book includes a lot of detail on this trip.

Since then he has taken on a lot of expeditions for charity: circumnavigating the UK on a jet ski, paramotoring over Angel Falls and the Himalayas, an Antarctic expedition, and much more.

Bear has also hosted several outdoors TV shows: Escape to the Legion, Man vs. Wild / Born Survivor, and Worst-Case Scenario.

In 2009 Bear Grylls was made Chief Scout, the youngest Chief Scout since the role was created in 1920.

Mud, Sweat and Tears had a 4.5 star rating on Amazon UK from over 100 reviewers at the time. Available in paperback, it makes a great stocking filler or travel read.

Check price on Amazon UK