The Moth and the Mountain
Shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award 2021
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4.4 • 14 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE TELEGRAPH BEST SPORTS WRITING AWARD 2021
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD 2021
'One of the best books ever written about the early attempts to conquer Everest. A fine, fine slice of history by a truly special writer who proves time and time again that he is among the best of his generation' Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets
'A small classic of the biographer's art' Sunday Times
In the 1930s, as official government expeditions set their sights on conquering Everest, a little-known World War I veteran named Maurice Wilson conceived his own crazy, beautiful plan: he would fly a Gipsy Moth aeroplane from England to Everest, crash land on its lower slopes, then become the first person to reach its summit - all utterly alone. Wilson didn't know how to climb. He barely knew how to fly. But he had pluck, daring and a vision - he wanted to be the first man to stand on top of the world.
Maurice Wilson is a man written out of the history books - dismissed as an eccentric and a charlatan by many, but held in the highest regard by world class mountaineers such as Reinhold Messner. The Moth and the Mountain restores him to his rightful place in the annals of Everest and in doing so attempts to answer that perennial question - why do we climb mountains?
'A towering, tragic tale rescued from oblivion by Ed Caesar's magnificent writing' Dan Snow
'This bonkers ripping yarn of derring-don't is a hell of a ride' The Times
'It's hard to imagine a finer tribute to one of Everest's forgotten heroes' Elizabeth Day
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Caesar (Two Hours) delivers an evocative portrait of the life and times of British adventurer Maurice Wilson (1898 1934), who captivated the public's attention with his doomed attempt to climb Mount Everest in 1934. Despite the best efforts of the British government to stop him, Wilson flew his Gipsy Moth biplane (which he had only recently learned to pilot) from England to India, hired three sherpas, and walked more than 300 miles to the base of the world's tallest mountain disguised as a Tibetan priest. Drawing on archival records and love letters Wilson wrote to a friend's wife, Caesar highlights Wilson's middle-class upbringing and military service in WWI, where his battalion was nearly wiped out in Germany's spring offensive of 1918. After the war, Wilson burned through relationships, suffered a nervous breakdown, and traveled the world. Back in England, he turned to fasting, Indian mysticism, and the power of positive thinking to recover from depression and prepare for his Everest expedition. Caesar skillfully explores the political, intellectual, and spiritual movements of the era, as well as Wilson's psychic scars from the war. Though his climb ended in tragedy, Wilson inspired Reinhold Messner to make the first solo ascent of Everest in 1980. This entertaining, well-researched chronicle is a valuable addition to mountaineering history.
