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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 Outdoor

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Critic reviews

The most exhilarating history of mountaineering ... a riveting read.
-- Jeremy Paxman
All stars
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A thoroughly enjoyable lesson for anyone who has a love for the mountains and the outdoors. Capped off with Mallory’s obsession with Everest, this is a superb audiobook and one that deserves another listen.

Thoroughly enjoyable

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One of the best books I've ever read about mountaineering. A thoughtful, wise, philosophical look at an ostensibly strange activity.

Superb

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A history of our fascination indeed with great stories of explorers intertwined - I'm certainly left more fascinated and cannot wait to visit Mont Blanc this summer

All things mountain

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A fabulous account, fabulously read. This is a stunning piece of scholarship, an education and an entertainment.
Neil Garnham

A fabulous account, fabulously read.

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I have read and listened to a lot of Robert MacFarlane’s writing and this work does not disappoint. Informative and entertaining. Non-fiction but emotionally affecting. I have/had zero interest in or empathy with mountain climbers but he has such a way with words that I was enthralled. Wonderful. More please!

Wonderful

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Every time I read (or listen to) one of Robert Macfarlane’s books I think it’s my favourite of his, and this is no exception. If you haven’t read him yet, I pity and envy you, and this is as good a place to start as any - fascinating, beautifully-written, gripping, inspiring, and constantly thought-provoking. Of course, my opinion here is utterly biased by my love of Macfarlane’s writing, but that is also my highest praise. Enjoy the view.

A peak experience

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This is a blend of fairly tame anecdotes from the author’s mountaineering life, some of the most well known facts from the history of mountaineering, and quite a bit of pretentious twaddle on what it all might mean. “Why do we climb mountains?” at no point it occurs to the author it might be for adventure, fame and glory or simply a sense of achievement.

Boring and bland

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