Cover image for The moth and the mountain : a true story of love, war, and Everest
The moth and the mountain : a true story of love, war, and Everest
First Title Value for Searching:
The moth and the mountain : a true story of love, war, and Everest
Personal Author:
Edition:
First Avid Reader Press hardcover edition.
Physical Description:
xxiv, 259 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.
Summary:
"In the 1930s, as official government expeditions set their sights on conquering Mount Everest, a little-known World War I veteran named Maurice Wilson conceives his own crazy, beautiful plan: he will fly a plane from England to Everest, crash-land on its lower slopes, then become the first person to reach its summit--all utterly alone. Wilson doesn't know how to climb. He barely knows how to fly. But he has the right plane, the right equipment, and a deep yearning to achieve his goal. In 1933, he takes off from London in a Gipsy Moth biplane with his course set for the highest mountain on earth. Wilson's eleven-month journey to Everest is wild: full of twists, turns, and daring. Eventually, in disguise, he sneaks into Tibet. His icy ordeal is just beginning. Wilson is one of the Great War{u2019}s heroes, but also one of its victims. His hometown of Bradford in northern England is ripped apart by the fighting. So is his family. He barely survives the war himself. Wilson returns from the conflict unable to cope with the sadness that engulfs him. He begins a years-long trek around the world, burning through marriages and relationships, leaving damaged lives in his wake. When he finally returns to England, nearly a decade after he first left, he finds himself falling in love once more{u2014}this time with his best friend{u2019}s wife{u2014}before depression overcomes him again. He emerges from his funk with a crystalline ambition. He wants to be the first man to stand on top of the world. Wilson believes that Everest can redeem him." --book jacket
Contents:
Prologue: the world will be on fire -- Do I understand this madman? -- Owing to his pluck -- Eiles in a strange country -- Good old days of early freedom -- Bullet-proof soldier -- The naked soul -- Most amazing air adventure ever attempted -- He is not repeat not to proceed -- Adventure presonified -- All pretty -- Moorland grass -- Cheerio -- Epilogue
Publication Info:
New York : Avid Reader Press, 2020.
Subject:
Mountaineers -- Great Britain -- Biography.
Air pilots -- Great Britain -- Biography.
World War, 1914-1918 -- Veterans -- Biography.
Mountaineering -- Everest, Mount (China and Nepal) -- History.
Wilson, Maurice, 1898-1934
Climbers, Mountain
Mountain climbers
Rock climbers
Airline pilots
Airplane pilots
Airplanes -- Pilots
Aviators
Pilots (Aeronautics)
European War, 1914-1918
First World War, 1914-1918
Great War, 1914-1918
World War 1, 1914-1918
World War I, 1914-1918
World War One, 1914-1918
WW I (World War, 1914-1918)
WWI (World War, 1914-1918)
Climbing mountains
Mountain climbing
SAILS ISBN:
9781501143373