WINNER OF THE TELEGRAPH BEST SPORTS WRITING AWARD 2021SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD 2021One of the best books ever written about the early attempts to conquer Everest A fine fine slice of history by a truly special writer who proves time and time again that he is among the best of his generation Dan Jones author of The PlantagenetsA small classic of the biographers art Sunday TimesIn the 1930s as official government expeditions set their sights on conquering Everest a littleknown World War I veteran named Maurice Wilson conceived his own crazy beautiful plan he would fly a Gipsy Moth aeroplane from England to Everest crash land on its lower slopes then become the first person to reach its summit all utterly alone Wilson didnt know how to climb He barely knew how to fly But he had pluck daring and a vision he wanted to be the first man to stand on top of the worldMaurice Wilson is a man written out of the history books dismissed as an eccentric and a charlatan by many but held in the highest regard by world class mountaineers such as Reinhold Messner The Moth and the Mountain restores him to his rightful place in the annals of Everest and in doing so attempts to answer that perennial question why do we climb mountainsA towering tragic tale rescued from oblivion by Ed Caesars magnificent writing Dan SnowThis bonkers ripping yarn of derringdont is a hell of a ride The TimesIts hard to imagine a finer tribute to one of Everests forgotten heroes Elizabeth Day
