The Official Robert Young Pelton Collection

Over 35 years and across more than 150 countries and four dozen conflicts, Pelton has chronicled his journeys in books, articles, films, and photographs. In his diverse roles as writer, producer, publisher, editor, filmmaker, host, author, expert, and multimedia creator, Pelton offers a unique sensory understanding of dangerous places.

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
	Afghanistan, Among the Seekers
	Trespassing Tajikistan
	Uzbekistan, Riding the Rails
1999	Africa, A Land Divided
2000	My Friend, the Mercenary From Hell	Men’s Journal
	Colombia, The Sound and the Fury	Blue Magazine
	Chechnya, Under the Hammer
	The Best of RYP
2001	A Life Lived Fast and Full
2002	The Legend of Heavy D and the Boys	National Geographic Adventure
2003	Kidnapped in the Gap	National Geographic
	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
2010	Inside Burma’s Dirty War	Dangerous Magazine
	An American Commando In Exile	Men’s Journal
2011	Somali Pirates’ Rich Returns	Bloomberg Businessweek
2012	Kill the Messenger	Foreign Policy
	The Black Zone	Virginia Quarterly Review
	Hijacked	Foreign Policy
2013	A Weapon of Minor Destruction

Saving South Sudan Series

2014

25-part web series 130-page print magazine 40-minute documentary

VICE

Our Journey Through South Sudan How South Sudan Got Lost They’re All Coming Here The Dark Continent Bright Shiny Nation The Lost Boys The Bog Barons The Swamp War The Wretched Land Flying In Oil and War Life Under the Trees

Unholy Alliance Fixing South Sudan Kill Them With Fire Cowboy Capitalists The Park Ranger I Didn’t Even Take My Purse The Prophet A Grain of Truth The Holy Land The White Army Dead Calm Machot’s Meltdown Afterword

 

2014	Finding Private Berghdal Four Part Series July to October 1, 2, 3, 4	VICE
	The All-American Life and Death of Eric Harroun
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
	Libya, The Unfriendly Skies

Columns

Pelton’s World	National Geographic Adventure
2003	2004
The Bank Roll More is Less General Grant Fixer	Off The Menu Speak No Evil Shutter Diplomacy When All Is Lost Cooking the Books Hazardous Holidays Think Locals The Jail Break Drill
2005	2006
Unarmed and Dangerous The Next Level Weekend Warrior No Road Required	In The Bag Members Only

Books

1995	Borneo Safari	Donovan Publishing
	The Adventurous Guide to the Island of Borneo	Fielding Worldwide
	The World’s Most Dangerous Places I
1996	The World’s Most Dangerous Places II
1997	Fielding’s Hot Spots
	The World’s Most Dangerous Places III
1998	Come Back Alive	Random House
	The World’s Most Dangerous Places III	Fielding Worldwide
2000	The World’s Most Dangerous Places IV	HarperCollins
	The Adventurist: My Life in Dangerous Places	Broadway Books
2003	Three Worlds Gone Mad	Lyons Press
	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 • Host/Writer/Producer

The Discovery Channel

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
	The American Jihadist
2026	Smash, Grab and Run	In production

Ground News Networks

Created, hired, and trained between 400 and 1,200 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
	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.