Mountains of the Mind: A History of a Fascination [Hardcover]

Robert Macfarlane's Mountains of the Mind is the most interesting of the crop of books published to mark the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest. Macfarlane is both a mountaineer and a scholar. Consequently we get more than just a chronicle of climbs. He interweaves accounts of his own adventurous ascents with those of pioneers such as George Mallory, and in with an erudite discussion of how mountains became such a preoccupation for the modern western imagination.

The book is organised around a series of features of mountaineering--glaciers, summits, unknown ranges--and each chapter explores the scientific, artistic and cultural discoveries and fashions that accompanied exploration. The contributions of assorted geologists, romantic poets, landscape artists, entrepreneurs, gallant amateurs and military cartographers are described with perceptive clarity. The book climaxes with an account of Mallory's fateful ascent on Everest in 1924, one of the most famous instances of an obsessive pursuit. Macfarlane is well-placed to describe it since it is one he shares.

MacFarlane's own stories of perilous treks and assaults in the Alps, the Cairngorms and the Tian Shan mountains between China and Kazakhstan are compelling. Readers who enjoyed Francis Spufford's masterly I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination will enjoy Mountains of the Mind. This is a slighter volume than Spufford's and it loses in depth what it gains in range, but for an insight into the moody, male world of mountaineering past and present it is invaluable. --Miles Taylor

This is a lovely book, one that touches and surprises like sunlight moving across a range of hills. As a child, staying in his grandparents' Scottish home, Macfarlane couldn't sleep one night and idly took down The Fight for Everest from the shelves. In the course of that moonlit night, an obsession was born - one that would lead him to scale mountains himself and ultimately result in this thoughtful meditation on our love of high and remote places. We love mountains, he believes, because 'ultimately. they quicken our sense of wonder. which can so easily be leached away by modern existence, and they urge us to apply that wonder to our own everyday lives'. This is a beautifully written, lyrical and intelligent study that could well appear on the Boardman Tasker shortlist.

‘If you have ever wondered why people climb mountains, then here is your answer. A brilliant book,beautifully written’

'The sort of book that restores confidence in the travel genre. Erudite, full of information and charged with passion'

‘A distinguished book that jolted my heart. Adventurous, passionate, intensely romantic...fizzes with insights into the sublime madness of mountaineering’

‘Vivid and original...Intelligent without being academic, the writing contains many pleasures, and made me want to be out there again in snow, wind and rain’

‘An impressive first book’

'He is an engaging writer, his commentary, always crisp and relevant, leavened by personal experience beautifully related’

'He writes with tremendous maturity, elegance and control. A powerful debut, a remarkable blend of passion and scholarship’

'A seriously good book'

Why do so many feel compelled to risk their lives climbing mountains? During the climbing season, one person per day dies in the Alps, and more people die climbing in this season in Scotland than they do on the roads. "Mountains of the Mind" pursues a fascinating investigation into our emotional and imaginative responses to mountains, and how these have changed over the last few centuries. It is rich with historical and literary references, and punctuated by descriptions of the author's own climbing experiences. There are chapters on glaciers, geology, the prusuit of fear, the desire to explore the unknown, and the desire to get to the summit. The book ends with a gripping account of Mallory's attempt on Everest.

Robert Macfarlane is an academic at Cambridge University, with a passion for mountaineering. He reviews regularly for The Observer, the TLS and the New Statesman.