In Mountains of Tartary, mountaineering and explorer Eric Shipton describes his climbs and explorations in northern and central Asia, taking the reader places that most would otherwise never go and writing with humour and self-deprecation.
During the Second World War, and up until 1951, Shipton worked as consul general in Kunming and Kashgar in China, and as a diplomat in Hungary and Persia. In Mountains of Tartary, he describes his climbs and explorations that take him from the barren steppes of central Asia, to glass-clear lakes and forested slopes. Shipton and his party enjoy varying degrees of hospitality from the local people and occasionally potentially dangerous encounters. The book details the exploits of the climbers, explorers and guides, including a hilarious drunken banquet with government officials.
Mountains of Tartary is like a postcard from history - a must-read for any keen climber, walker or explorer.
In Undiscovered Scotland climbing and mountaineer W.H. Murray transports the reader to the wilds of Scotland, exploring the hills and climbing on ice, rock and snow. Murray, a former prisoner of war, is relishing his freedom - all the sweeter following his captivity - and we follow him on his adventures in Scotland to the Isle of Rum, Skye, Glencoe and the Cuillin as he enjoys the fellowship, struggles, pleasures and beauty which mountain climbing bestows upon him. Here are the joys of the high mountains, the sun glinting on burn pools, and the peace of wilderness evenings.
Undiscovered Scotland is Murray's second book. Like his first, Mountaineering in Scotland, it is hailed as one of the great classics of mountain literature; poetic and inspirational for any keen climber, walker or mountaineer, even the armchair kind.
'The touch of wind on the cheek, rocks, the smell of pines and bog-myrtle, morning dew and the song of water, snow-ridges in sun, tall trees and corries. Let us see their beauty and remember ... '
