The world beneath their feet : mountaineering, madness, and the deadly race to summit the Himalayas /
While tension steadily rose between European powers in the 1930s, a different kind of battle was raging across the Himalayas. Contingents from Great Britain, Nazi Germany and the United States had set up rival camps at the base of the mountains, all hoping to become recognized as the fastest, strong...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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New York :
Little, Brown and Company,
[2020]
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| Edition: | First edition. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | While tension steadily rose between European powers in the 1930s, a different kind of battle was raging across the Himalayas. Contingents from Great Britain, Nazi Germany and the United States had set up rival camps at the base of the mountains, all hoping to become recognized as the fastest, strongest and bravest climbers in the world. Carried on across nearly the entire sweep of the Himalayas, this contest involved not only the greatest mountain climbers of the era, but statesmen and millionaires, world-class athletes and bona fide eccentrics, scientists and generals, obscure villagers and national heroes. Centered in the 1930s, with one brief, shining postwar coda, the contest was a struggle between hidebound traditionalists and unknown innovators, one that featured new techniques and equipment, unbelievable courage and physical achievement and unparalleled valor. And death. One Himalayan peak alone, Nanga Parbat in Kashmir, claimed twenty-five lives in less than three years. |
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| Physical Description: | xix, 393 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 25 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780316434867 0316434868 |