Blood Rain by Michael Dibdin
Policeman Aurelio Zen mixes with the mafia in Sicily.
Continue reading →Category Archives: Book Reviews
Summit Fever by Andrew Greig
Despite the quote from Chris Bonington on the front cover – “a wonderful, gritty expedition book” – Summit Fever is a very different expedition book. Successfully different, and an excellent read. Joe Simpson introduces the book – In Summit Fever, … Continue reading →
Seven Summits by Steve Bell (ed)
This is a mountaineering book that not only has great photos but is also enjoyable to read. It starts off with a nice little spat – competing forewords from Dick "I did the seven first" Bass and Pat "But I … Continue reading →
My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir
Yes, it’s the John Muir. Not great literature, but worth a quick skip-read it for its curiosity value.
Continue reading →St Kilda by Charles Maclean
A well-researched account of St Kilda first published in 1972 covering what is known of the history of the island and its inhabitants up to the evacuation in 1930. Good bibliography, including more up-to-date material.
Continue reading →A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains by Bird, Isabella
The book describes the experiences of an exceptional English woman travelling alone in the Rocky Mountains in 1873. This was the time before Colorado became a State of the Union, and life was mostly hard and brutish. Isabella Bird happily … Continue reading →
Lost on Everest by Peter Firstbrook
Most of this book is a biography of George Mallory, followed by a short account of the expeditions after his death in 1924 which throw significant light on his and Irvine’s fate. Only the last few chapters relate the events … Continue reading →
Ulverton by Adam Thorpe
Highly original first novel – a story of a place rather than a person, told in voices spanning two centuries.
Continue reading →Dead Lagoon by Michael Dibdin
Detective novel set in Venice.
Continue reading →Younghusband by Patrick French
Patrick French has written a fascinating, well-researched and readable account of the life of Sir Francis Younghusband, soldier, explorer, mountaineer, diplomat, spy, and mystic. If at the end I still find it impossible to define or understand the man, it … Continue reading →