Brave Companions: Portraits in History is a 1991 book by the American historian David McCullough.

[1] I. Phenomena "Journey to the Top of the World" is a portrait of German scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt, with particular attention paid to the expedition to Latin America he undertook in 1799–1804 with Aimé Bonpland.

"Long-Distance Vision" is about the experiences and literary works of several early aviators, including Charles Lindbergh, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and Beryl Markham.

"The Lonely War of a Good Angry Man", written in 1969, concerns the destructive environmental impact of strip mining in eastern Kentucky, and profiles Harry M. Caudill, local author and anti-strip mining political activist.

"Recommended Itinerary" is an address McCullough gave to the 1986 graduating class of Middlebury College, in which he urged graduates to travel abroad to gain a better appreciation of the United States, and to study history in order to gain a better appreciation of their own time.