WORLD BENEATH THEIR FEET

Sub-titled 'The British, The Americans, The Nazis and the Race to Summit the Himalayas', this gripping book was shortlisted in 2020 for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. It is an unforgettable saga of survival, technological innovation, and breath-taking human physical achievement all set against the backdrop of a world headed towards war. While tensions steadily rose between European powers in the 1930s, contingents from Great Britain, Nazi Germany and the US had set up rival camps at the base of the Himalayas, all hoping to become recognised as the fastest, strongest, and bravest climbers in the world. Carried on across nearly the entire sweep on the Himalayas, this contest involved not only the greatest climbers of the era, but statesmen and millionaires, world-class athletes and bona fide eccentrics, scientists and generals, obscure villagers and national heroes. One Himalayan peak alone, Nanga Parbat in Kashmir, claimed 25 lives in less than three years. This was the Greatest Generation's moon shot, one shrouded in the onset of war, interrupted by it, and then fully accomplished. Told in vivid, novelistic prose describing the significant expeditions and engaging portraits of climbers from many different countries and their invaluable Sherpas. 393pp, paperback.