A life of adventure,

A legacy of Inspiration.

The Robert Young Pelton Collection

Robert Young Pelton has chronicled his journeys in books, articles, films, and photographs for over 40 years and across more than 150 countries and inside more than four dozen conflicts. In his roles as writer, producer, publisher, editor, filmmaker, host, author, expert, and multimedia creator, Pelton offers a unique sensory understanding of dangerous places.  Here are links to some of his published works with new works on the way

Articles

1991 – In the Footprints of the Great Explorers – Soldier of Fortune

1996 – The World’s Most Dangerous Places (Eight-part web event) ABC News 

1997 – Man of Dangerous Places – Blue Magazine

1998 – Algeria, Life In the Death Zone – Blue Magazine

1998 – Afghanistan, Among the Seekers – Blue Magazine

1998 – Trespassing Tajikistan – Blue Magazine

1998 – Uzbekistan, Riding the Rails – Blue Magazine

1999 – Africa, A Land Divided – Blue Magazine

2000 – My Friend, the Mercenary From Hell – Men’s Journal

2000 – Colombia, The Sound and the Fury – Blue Magazine

2000 – Chechnya, Under the Hammer – Blue Magazine

2000 – The Best of RYP – Blue Magazine

2001 – A Life Lived Fast and Full – Blue Magazine

2002 – The Legend of Heavy D and the Boys – National Geographic Adventure

2003 – Kidnapped in the Gap – National Geographic

2003 – Fishing for Sierra Leone – Blue Magazine

2004 – Into the Land of Bin Laden – National Geographic Adventure

2005 – Eat or Be Eaten – The Guardian

2008 – How to Stage A Coup D’etat – Men’s Journal

2009 – Inside Blackwater – Men’s Journal

2010 – Inside Burma’s Dirty War – Dangerous Magazine

2010 – An American Commando In Exile – Men’s Journal

2011 – Somali Pirates’ Rich Returns – Bloomberg Businessweek

2012 – Kill the Messenger – Foreign Policy

2012 – The Black Zone – Virginia Quarterly Review

2012 – Hijacked – Foreign Policy

2013 – A Weapon of Minor Destruction – Foreign Policy

2014 – Saving South Sudan

– 25- part web series, 130-page print magazine and 40-minute documentary) – VICE

  1. Our Journey Through South Sudan

  2. How South Sudan Got Lost

  3. They’re All Coming Here

  4. The Dark Continent

  5. Bright Shiny Nation

  6. The Lost Boys

  7. The Bog Barons

  8. The Swamp War

  9. The Wretched Land

  10. Flying In

  11. Oil and War

  12. Life Under the Trees

  13. Unholy Alliance

  14. Fixing South Sudan

  15. Kill Them With Fire

  16. Cowboy Capitalists

  17. The Park Ranger

  18. I Didn’t Even Take My Purse

  19. The Prophet

  20. A Grain of Truth

  21. The Holy Land

  22. The White Army

  23. Dead Calm

  24. Machot’s Meltdown

  25. Afterword

2014 – Finding Private Berghdal  (Four Part Series July to October 1, 2, 3, 4, ) – VICE

2014 – The All-American Life and Death of Eric Harroun  – VICE

2017 – Afghanistan, The New War for Hearts and Minds  – Men’s Journal

2018 – The Hack (Seven-part series) – Dangerous Magazine

2019 – Syria, Killing ISIS ­– Recoil

2022 – Haiti, The Lunchbox Commandos – Recoil

2022 –  Libya, The Unfriendly Skies –Recoil

Columns

Pelton’s World, National Geographic Adventure

2003 

The Bank Roll

More is Less

General Grant Fixer 

2004 

Off The Menu

Speak No Evil

Shutter Diplomacy

When All Is Lost 

Cooking the Books

Hazardous Holidays

Think Locals

The Jail Break Drill

2005  

Unarmed and Dangerous

The Next Level

Weekend Warrior

No Road Required

2006 

In The Bag

 Members Only

Books

1995 – Borneo Safari (Donovan Publishing)

1995 – The Adventurous Guide to the Island of Borneo – Fielding Worldwide

1995 – The World’s Most Dangerous Places I – Fielding Worldwide

1996 – The World’s Most Dangerous Places II – Fielding Worldwide

1997 – Fielding’s Hot Spots – Fielding Worldwide

1997 – The World’s Most Dangerous Places III – Fielding Worldwide

1998 – Come Back Alive – Random House 

1998 -  The World’s Most Dangerous Places III – Fielding Worldwide

2000 – The World’s Most Dangerous Places IV - HarperCollins

2000 – The Adventurist: My Life in Dangerous Places - Broadway Books

2003 – Three Worlds Gone Mad – Lyons Press

2003 – The World’s Most Dangerous Places 5th Edition – HarperCollins

2006 – Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror – Crown

2019 – Raven: One Boy Against the Wilderness – Adventurist

Television Series & Documentary

1998–2003 – The World’s Most Dangerous Places – Discovery Channel Host/Writer/Producer

Philippines: The Crescent and the Cross

Afghanistan: The Lion of Panjshir

Colombia: Coca Loco Land

Liberia: The Dark Heart

America: Rebels and Loners

Afghanistan: Inside the War on Terror

Kidnapped: Chechnya, Panama

2007 – Iraq Guns for Hire – National Geographic Adventurer

2014 – Saving South Sudan – VICE 

2014 – The American Jihadist – VICE 

2026 – Smash, Grab and Run (in production)

Ground News Networks

Created, hired, and trained between 400 and 1200 locals to gather news, fact-checked, translated, and published ground news 24/7 on a high-end subscription basis.

2003 – 2007 IraqSlogger – Created daily and weekly coverage of Iraq

2008 – 2012 AfPax - Created daily and weekly coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan

2008 – 2012 SomaliaReport – Piracy, hostage and conflict coverage from Somalia

2015 – 2016 Migrant Report - Malta, Libya and North Africa covering refugee movement

Documentary Appearances (Partial)

Numerous documentaries feature Pelton and or his footage on pirates, bounty hunting, child soldiers and conflict.

2002 – House of War – Paul Yule 

2004 – Weapons of Mass Deception – Danny Schecter 

2006 – Shadow Company  – Nic Bicanic

2014 – Superpower for Hire – Vice

2017 – Legion of Brothers – Greg Barker

2020 – The Child Soldiers New Job – Mads Ellesøe

2020 – The Fighter Pilot, The Mercenary Boss, and the Warlord – ABC

2021 – Detainee 001 – Greg Barker

2022 – The Grab – Gabriela Cowperthwaite 

Profiles & Anthologies

Pelton has appeared on hundreds and hundreds of news, presentation stages and entertainment shows from Oprah to network news to late night shows to podcasts, discussing or promoting his latest projects

1997 – A Man of Dangerous Places – Blue Magazine

2000 – The Most Dangerous Friend in the World – Men’s Journal

2001 – Extra - 

2002 – Wild Stories: the best of Men's Journal – Crown

2002 – Afghan War Eyewitness on Warlords – National Geographic News

2002 – Hold the Enlightenment: More Travel Less Bliss – Tim Cahill

2003 – Adventure Magazine Reporter Recounts Ten-Day Kidnap – National Geographic

2003 – The Best Adventure and Survival Stories (Kidnapped in the Gap)

2004 – The Best American Travel Writing (Kidnapped in the Gap)

2004 – Boots on the Ground (Heavy D and the Boys)

2005 – Journalism Beyond Journalists – Vice 

2005 – The Best Travel Writing (Into the Land of Bin Laden)

2008 – Cause of Death – George Lucas

2010 – Interview with Pelton – DW

2011 – Somalia Report – LloydsList

2012 – Adventurer Robert Young Pelton on Dangerous Places – Outside Magazine

2013 – So Crazy It Might Work Foreign Policy

2014 – RYP on Vice – Journalism UK

2014 – Gizmodo

2015 – IdeaCity

2015 – The Smartest Guy in the Sea – Vice

2018 – The True World’s Most interesting Man – Team Never Quit 

2019 – Coffee or Die Magazine

2000 – Zeroed In – Recoil

2024 – Episode 280 – The Team House 

2022 – Handling Putin – The Best of Coast to Coast

2024 – Ryan Biller

Graphic Novel

2012 – Roll Hard (w Billy Tucci) – Adventurist

PODCASTS

2026 - The World’s Most Dangerous Podcast

Older man with gray hair and mustache wearing black leather jacket, sitting indoors with shelves of shoes and books in the background.
Robert Young Pelton on his expedition in Borneo to cross the border from Sabah to Kalimantan. ©RYP, all rights reserved
Robert Young Pelton interviews Raul Reyes of the FARC in Colombia. Reyes was a leader of the Southern Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People's Army and was killed in 2008. ©RYP, all rights reserved
Robert Young Pelton and some local Cuna India porters are kidnapped by the AUC-BEC death squads n the Darien Gap in January of 2003. ©RYP, all rights reserved
Robert Young Pelton and group of Sudanese rebels head to the front lines near Juba where Joseph Kony and Osama bin Laden's forces oppose the SPLA. ©RYP, all rights reserved
Robert Young Pelton on board the Topaz Responder the MOAS rescue ship active in the Aegean during the winter of 2016. ©RYP, all rights reserved
Robert Young Pelton at the Battle of Qali i Jangi with some Hazara fighters in December 2001. ©RYP, all rights reserved
Robert Young Pelton interviews President Aslan Maskhadov in Shali, Chechnya during the second siege in 1999/2001 ©RYP, all rights reserved
Robert Young Pelton heading to the fighting in Malakal, South Sudan. Part of a major VICE event in which Pelton wrote th entire issue of the magazine, created a web event and a documentary on the implosion of the new nation. ©Tim Frecc rights reserve
Roberty Young Pelton on his cop bike exploring the back roads of America to meet rebels and rabble rousers for his Discovery Channel special. ©RYP, all rights reserved
Three men sitting on the floor, wearing military and tactical gear, with helmets, sunglasses, and firearms.
Two men shaking hands in front of a world map on the wall, with additional framed pictures on a green wall.
Soldier in military gear aiming a rifle, with helicopters flying in the background.
Two military personnel in camouflage uniforms sitting outdoors, one holding a glass of tea or coffee, with other gear and supplies around them.
A soldier in camouflage uniform standing next to a tan military vehicle in a desert military base, with a watchtower and sandy structures in the background.
Group of seven men posing outdoors, wearing tactical gear and sunglasses, with some holding guns, in front of a building or structure.