The best-selling author of Born to Run now travels to the Mediterranean, where he discovers that the secrets of ancient Greek heroes are still alive and well on the island of Crete, and ready to be unleashed in the muscles and minds of casual athletes and aspiring heroes everywhere. 

After running an ultramarathon through the Copper Canyons of Mexico, Christopher McDougall finds his next great adventure on the razor-sharp mountains of Crete, where a band of Resistance fighters in World War II plotted the daring abduction of a German general from the heart of the Nazi occupation. How did a penniless artist, a young shepherd, and a playboy poet believe they could carry out such a remarkable feat of strength and endurance, smuggling the general past thousands of Nazi pursuers, with little more than their own wits and courage to guide them? 

McDougall makes his way to the island to find the answer and retrace their steps, experiencing firsthand the extreme physical challenges the Resistance fighters and their local allies faced. On Crete, the birthplace of the classical Greek heroism that spawned the likes of Herakles and Odysseus, McDougall discovers the tools of the hero—natural movement, extraordinary endurance, and efficient nutrition. All of these skills, McDougall learns, are still practiced in far-flung pockets throughout the world today.

More than a mystery of remarkable people and cunning schemes, Natural Born Heroes is a fascinating investigation into the lost art of the hero, taking us from the streets of London at midnight to the beaches of Brazil at dawn, from the mountains of Colorado to McDougall’s own backyard in Pennsylvania, all places where modern-day athletes are honing ancient skills so they’re ready for anything. 

Just as Born to Run inspired readers to get off the treadmill, out of their shoes, and into the natural world, Natural Born Heroes will inspire them to leave the gym and take their fitness routine to nature—to climb, swim, skip, throw, and jump their way to their own heroic feats.

天生就会跑》的畅销书作者现在来到地中海，在那里他发现古希腊英雄的秘密在克里特岛依然存在，并准备在各地休闲运动员和有抱负的英雄的肌肉和头脑中释放出来。

在跑完墨西哥铜矿峡谷的超级马拉松之后，克里斯托弗-麦克杜格尔在克里特岛的尖锐山脉上找到了他的下一个伟大的冒险，二战中一伙抵抗军战士在那里策划了从纳粹占领的中心地带劫持一名德国将军的大胆行动。一个身无分文的艺术家、一个年轻的牧羊人和一个花花公子诗人如何相信他们能够完成这样一个非凡的力量和耐力的壮举，在成千上万的纳粹追兵面前偷渡将军，只靠他们自己的智慧和勇气来引导他们？

麦克杜格尔前往该岛寻找答案，并追溯他们的足迹，亲身体验抵抗运动战士和他们的当地盟友所面临的极端体力挑战。在克里特岛，这个孕育了赫拉克勒斯和奥德修斯等人的古典希腊英雄主义的发源地，McDougall发现了英雄的工具--自然运动、非凡的耐力和高效的营养。McDougall了解到，所有这些技能今天仍在世界各地遥远的地方实践着。

天生英雄》不仅仅是一个关于杰出人物和狡猾计划的神秘故事，更是对失落的英雄艺术的一次引人入胜的调查，带我们从午夜的伦敦街头到黎明的巴西海滩，从科罗拉多州的山区到宾夕法尼亚州的麦克杜格尔自己的后院，所有的地方都有现代的运动员在磨练古老的技能，以便他们做好一切准备。

就像《天生就会跑》激励读者离开跑步机，脱掉鞋子，进入自然世界一样，《天生英雄》将激励他们离开健身房，把他们的健身程序带到大自然中去，通过攀登、游泳、跳过、投掷和跳跃，实现他们自己的英雄壮举。