Mountains of the Mind cover art

Mountains of the Mind

A History of a Fascination

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Mountains of the Mind

By: Robert Macfarlane
Narrated by: Simon Bubb
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About this listen

WINNER OF THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD

Once we thought monsters lived there. In the Enlightenment we scaled them to commune with the sublime. Soon, we were racing to conquer their summits in the name of national pride.

In this ground-breaking, classic work, Robert Macfarlane takes us up into the mountains: to experience their shattering beauty, the fear and risk of adventure, and to explore the strange impulses that have for centuries lead us to the world's highest places.

©2003 Robert Macfarlane (P)2003 Robert Macfarlane Climbing & Mountaineering Outdoors & Nature

Critic Reviews

The most exhilarating history of mountaineering ... a riveting read.
-- Jeremy Paxman
All stars
Most relevant  
I know of no other author who can write with such depth, clarity, beauty and wonder about the natural environment and people’s relationship with it. Macfarlane mixes environmental history, poetry, socio-psychology and literature to examine and present a compelling narrative of how society - and particularly the troublesome colonial mindset of the British - have come to love mountains despite a history of fear and superstition.

Deep, beautiful and wondrous

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