In Beyond Mammoth Cave: A Tale of Obsession in the World s Longest Cave, James D. Borden and Roger W. Brucker provide gripping first-person accounts of the discoveries, including Roppel Cave, that made Kentucky s Mammoth Cave three times longer than any other cave in the world.

Borden, a relative newcomer, and Brucker, a veteran explorer, bring a personal and sometimes conflicting view of their roles as adversaries in a race that lasted from 1972 through 1983 to find big cave. They describe hazardous adventures, precarious climbs, and close calls from falling rocks. The perils...