"If you have ever wondered why people climb mountains, then here is your answer. Part history, part personal observation, this is a fascinating study of our (sometimes fatal) obsession with height. A brilliant book, beautifully written". - Fergus Fleming
Why do so many feel compelled to risk their lives climbing mountains? During the climbing season, one person a day dies in the Alps, and more people die climbing in this season in Scotland than they do on the roads. This book pursues a fascinating investigation into our emotional and imaginative responses to mountains, and how these have changed over the last few centuries.
In the 17th century, Dryden claimed that "the sight looks up with pain on craggy rocks and barren mountains", but in the 18th century something began to change in the collective imagination that made people find mountains beautiful and enticing, and by the Victorian age they were risking their lives on them in droves.
'Mountains Of The Mind' is rich with literary and historical references, and punctuated by beautifully written descriptions of the author's own climbing experiences. There are chapters on glaciers, geology, the pursuit of fear, the desire to explore the unknown, and the desire to get to the summit, and the book ends with a gripping account of Mallory's attempt on Everest.
'Mountains Of The Mind' is a beautifully written synthesis of climbing memoir and cultural history.
