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 →Category Archives: Book Reviews
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 →
The Open Society and its Enemies by Carl Popper
I am not competent to review this book from a philosophical point of view. Instead, I have tried to give an overview of Popper’s themes which might perhaps encourage you to read the book for yourself! To understand Popper’s viewpoint … Continue reading →
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
This book is an impressive achievement. Despite its length, Seth keeps his reader engaged throughout. Every character in the complex, interwoven story is finely observed and detailed with sensitivity and gentle humour. The book covers a period of a little … Continue reading →
Terra Incognita by Sara Wheeler
Anyone writing more than a simple account of a visit to Antarctica is faced with the problem of which aspects to cover – the narrative, descriptive, historical, scientific, political, and (for many) spiritual aspects of their experience. Sara Wheeler was … Continue reading →