The generation of young men who grew up in the shadow of World War II but were too young to fight came of age idealizing patriotism and adventure. They burned to live life to the fullest and do their part in the Cold War. In 1951, when BAYARD FOX graduated from Yale, the CIA promised a unique opportunity to do both by serving as a double agent. Assigned to Europe, the Congo, and Iran, Fox—who spoke several languages and was always game to learn new ones—grew disillusioned and resigned after 12 years. Soon after, a horse he was riding cartwheeled on him, shattering his hip.

After organizing local fishermen in the Solomon Islands while swimming and diving for two years of rehabilitation, he was able to walk and ride again. Fox bought a ranch in the mountains of Wyoming, 17 miles from the nearest paved road and telephone, and set out with his family on his life’s true work: a sustainable, benevolent, ethical relationship with nature and the animals and people who thrive in it.

This eloquent and brave autobiography of a solitary pioneer evokes those of other men on horseback, such as T.E. Lawrence and Teddy Roosevelt. Their dazzling physical exploits and success in battle made them legendary in their lifetimes, apart from the historical roles for which we remember them. Fox, at 92, reveals a similarly rich life of impossible adventures—and of hardships mastered by grit and mysterious good fortune—in his own spare and unsparing voice. You’ll be riveted and grateful to discover it before he and his generation’s other remaining survivors ride ahead over the last ridge.