Biography: general Books

Book SynopsisThe Last Great Mountain tells the story of the first ascent of Kangchenjunga the third highest but reputedly the hardest mountain  in the world. It was an astonishing achievement for a British team led by Everest veteran Charles Evans. Drawing on interviews, diaries and unpublished accounts, Mick Conefrey begins his story in 1905 with the first, disastrous attempt on the mountain by a team led by Aleister Crowley, explores the three dramatic German expeditions of the the late 1920s and brings it all to a climax 50 years later with the first ascent by Joe Brown and George Band. The Last Great Mountain is the final instalment of Mick Conefrey’s acclaimed high altitude trilogy.

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Book SynopsisAn important part of the built heritage of the Northern Highlands is Victorian and Edwardian. Andrew Maitland, two sons and a grandson, architects based in Tain, made significant contributions across the region - including farm buildings, churches, shooting lodges, hotels, courthouses, town halls, commercial buildings, villas and whisky distilleries, including Glenmorangie, where they played a pivotal role. Tain itself became a place of rare charm and beauty. Hamish Mackenzie has researched the people who commissioned the Maitlands and why they did so. He brings to life a fascinating variety of characters against a backdrop of social, religious, political and technological change.

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Book SynopsisA monumental book - I defy anyone to read it and remain unmoved. – Stephen Venables, Alpine Journal. Acclaimed as one of the most powerful accounts of mountain adventure and tragedy ever written, The Endless Knot is a harrowing account of the 1986 K2 disaster. A rare first-hand account from a survivor at the very epicentre of the drama, The Endless Knot describes the disaster in frank detail. Kurt Diemberger's account of the final days of success, accident, storm and escape during which five climbers died, including his partner Julie Tullis and the great British mountaineer Al Rouse, is lacerating in its sense of tragedy, loss and dogged survival. Only Diemberger and Willi Bauer escaped the mountain. K2 had claimed the lives of 13 climbers that summer. Kurt Diemberger is one of only two climbers to have made first ascents of two 8000-metre peaks, Broad Peak and Dhaulagiri. A superb mountaineer, the K2 trauma left him physically and emotionally ravaged, but it also marked him out as an instinctive and tenacious survivor. After a long period of recovery Diemberger published The Endless Knot and resumed life as a mountaineer, filmmaker and international lecturer.Trade ReviewA monumental book - I defy anyone to read it and remain unmoved. – Stephen Venables, Alpine Journal.Table of ContentsIntroduction. 1- The lonely Mountain. 2- The boat. 3- Dream Mountain – K2 from the North. 4- England – Tunbridge Wells. 5- Italy – Bologna. 6- Raid on Broad Peak. 7- Tashigang – Place of Happiness. 8- Jinlab – The Magic of the Mountains. 9- The Village on the Moraine. 10- Threats Post to Health by High Altitude. 11- Success and Tragedy – Russian Roulette. 12- Julie has Doubts. 13- The Ice Avalanche and the Riddle of the Teapot. 14- The Decision – We Go Together. 15- Pushing to Great Heights. 16- The Korean Tent. 17- The Key Factor – A Tent. 18- The Lost Day. 19- The Summit – Our Dreams Come True. 20- The Fall. 21- Down to 8,000 Metres. 23- Flight from the Death Zone. 24- Where is Mrufka? 25- Perpetuum Mobile. 26- Clouds from Both Sides.

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Book SynopsisThis is a book that takes the reader on a detailed tour of many of the shores of Britain and Ireland and explains the reasons for their remarkably different scenery. Why, for example, do the rocky coastlines of Western Scotland and Ireland contrast so markedly with the sandy beaches of East Anglia? It describes how the complex coastline of North Wales evolved over some seven million years and also traces the ways in which the human impact has changed all our coastlines from prehistoric times to the present day. Crumbling cliffs, stark headlands, coral beaches, shingle spits, sand dunes and salt marshes – all are here, as are stories of Gaelic speakers, fisherman’s tales, saints and shipwrecks. One of the book’s most distinctive features tells how the author took part in one of the National Trust’s most successful initiatives, termed Enterprise Neptune; how it was conceived and how it has led to the acquisition of more than 775 miles of shoreline to be conserved for the nation in perpetuity. The book also explores how famous artists, writers, poets and composers have been inspired by coastal scenery to produce some of their most important works. And what does the future hold? What changes can we expect along our shores? The concluding chapters examine the escalating threats resulting from increasing human occupation and development and from the impact of climate change. They outline some of the ways in which the National Trust is responding to these challenges and how it is planning to manage our coastal environment for many years to come.

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Book SynopsisPeople love books about the countryside, but why do they all tend to be about posh people or the life cycle of the lapwing? Introducing Martin Aris, a working-class farmer, river keeper and mischief-maker, from the Cotswolds and Wiltshire. Martin is a proper country bloke who tells it like it is. Unbelievable! - his illustrated biography and thoughts on nature and life - does feature lovely lapwings etc, but also poaching and punch-ups. Plus, forget the Queen's English: this is written in Martin's Cots-Wilts accent, embellished with expletives. Unbelievable! will make you laugh out loud and reflect on a life well lived.

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Book Synopsis"Those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell."Paul Doyle has not just been a thorn in the side, more like a thicket bush to the face of the authorities, organised crime gangs and hooligan football ?rms across Europe, not to mention to a torturous drug lord who has wanted him dead for over three decades.This book tells the extraordinary tale of a boy left to rot in the penal system whose harsh experiences turned him into a man who feared no one, but was feared by many. A street ?ghter who became a well recognised head of Manchester''s underworld. Whose life was packed with death defying experiences, savage encounters and brutal violence. From the bleak cobbled streets of Salford, to the Cannabis hub of the world - Amsterdam. This is an astonishing account of one epic journey to the top table of organised crime.

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