Anyone who has fantasized about becoming fabulously rich overnight can relate to this collection of treasure hunt stories — tales of buried pirate gold, of hidden outlaw loot, of wrecked ships loaded with valuable coins and jewels, and of “lost” gold mines.

Some of the stories are tall tales based on little evidence. Many a dreamer wasted money, energy, and perhaps even a lifetime chasing after a pot of gold that did not exist. But some hidden treasures are real, even if the stories about them are exaggerated.

Many of the stories came down to us from an age in which pirates were said to be in league with the devil and supposedly used black magic to protect their hidden plunder.

Ed Butts’s tales of adventure, of shattered hopes, and, occasionally, of dreams come true expose the greed and the challenges that motivated the searchers. A few of them got lucky. But X didn’t mark the spot for most of these adventurers — and that means undiscovered treasures still lie ready to ignite the imagination....

Everyone’s life is touched at some time by disaster. But some disasters loom so large they are international events. The stories of those who live through such devastating events such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, fires, and floods are both heartbreaking and compelling. Often they are inspiring and uplifting.

SOS: Stories of Survival tells the tales of young survivors of such disasters — teenage coal miners trapped deep below the surface of the earth in Springhill, Nova Scotia; children who ran to escape the poisonous exploding gases spewing from Mont Pelee on Martinique; teens who rode the roofs of their homes in Pennsylvania’s roaring Johnstown Flood; and youngsters who survived, but still suffer from, the nuclear accident in Chernobyl.

Archival photos document these astounding sagas....