What the books are about

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

Into Thin Air

Into Thin Air is a riveting first-hand account of a catastrophic expedition up Mount Everest. In March 1996, Outside magazine sent veteran journalist and seasoned climber Jon Krakauer on an expedition led by celebrated Everest guide Rob Hall. Despite the expertise of Hall and the other leaders, by the end of summit day, eight people were dead. Krakauer’s book is at once the story of the ill-fated adventure and an analysis of the factors leading up to its tragic end. Written within months of the events it chronicles, Into Thin Air clearly evokes the majestic Everest landscape. As the journey up the mountain progresses, Krakauer puts it in context by recalling the triumphs and perils of other Everest trips throughout history. The author’s own anguish over what happened on the mountain is palpable as he leads readers to ponder timeless questions.

Annapurna

The enthralling account, by the leader of the French expedition, of the first conquest of Annapurna at that time, and at more than 8000 metres, the highest mountain ever climbed.

It is a story of breathtaking courage and determination against appalling odds. In records of mountaineering, in tales of human endeavour, there is nothing so unforgettable as the account of the descent by the triumphant but frostbitten men, after the monsoon had broken, through the flooded valleys of Nepal.

Touching the Void

Touching the Void is the heart-stopping account of Joe Simpson’s terrifying adventure in the Peruvian Andes. He and his climbing partner, Simon, reached the summit of the remote Siula Grande in June 1995. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frostbitten, with news that Simpson was dead.

What happened to Simpson, and how the pair dealt with the psychological traumas that resulted when Simon was forced into the appalling decision to cut the rope, makes not only an epic of survival but also a compelling testament of friendship.

As well as an introduction by Simpson, this new edition includes 16 pages of photographs, which provide a remarkable visual record of this legendary expedition.

White Mughals

Destined to become an instant classic —Amanda Foreman

William Dalrymple is that rarity, a scholar of history who can really write. This is a brilliant and compulsively readable book — Salman Rushdie

My favourite English book of the year, (an) irresistible masterpiece —Philip Mansel, (Spectator Books of the Year)

A remarkable achievement: illuminating, thought provoking, moving and entertaining —Tablet

A bravura display of scholarship, writing and insight. Dalrymple manages the incredible feat of outpointing most historians and most novelists in one go. This is quite simply a stunning achievement —Independent on Sunday

Gorgeous, spellbinding and important, (a) tapestry of magnificent set pieces —Miranda Seymour, (Sunday Times)

Enthralling! brilliant, as exhaustively researched as it is brilliantly written —Mail on Sunday

Holy Cow!

In her 20s journalist Sarah MacDonald backpacked around India and came away with a lasting impression of heat, pollution and poverty. So, when an airport beggar read her palm and told her she would return to India —and for love —she screamed, “Never!” and gave the country, and him, the finger.

But 11 years later, the prophecy comes true. When the love of Sarah’s life is posted to India, she quits her dream job to move to the most polluted city on earth, New Delhi. For Sarah this seems like the ultimate sacrifice for love, and it almost kills her, literally. Just settled, she falls dangerously ill with double pneumonia, an experience that compels her to face some serious questions about her own fragile mortality and inner spiritual void. “I must find peace in the only place possible in India,” she concludes “Within.” Thus begins her journey of discovery through India in search of the meaning of life and death.

Holy Cow is MacDonald’s often-hilarious chronicle of her adventures in a land of chaos and contradiction, of encounters with Hinduism, Islam and Jainism, Sufis, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians and a kaleidoscope of yogis, swamis and Bollywood stars. From spiritual retreats and crumbling nirvanas to war zones and New Delhi nightclubs, it is a journey that only a woman on a mission to save her soul, her love life—and her sanity—can survive.