by Tim Moore (2017)
"Not content with tackling the Italian Alps or the route of the Tour de France, Tim Moore sets out to scale a new peak of rash over-ambition: 6,000 mile route of the old Iron Curtain on a tiny-wheeled, two-geared East German shopping bike. Asking for trouble-- and getting it-- Moore sets off from the northernmost Norwegian-Russian border at the Arctic winter's brutal height, bullying his plucky MIFA 900 through the endless sub-zero desolation of snowbound Finland. Sleeping in bank vaults, imperial palaces and unreconstructed Soviet youth hostels, battling vodka-breathed Russian hostility, Romanian landslides, and a diet of dumplings, Moore and his 'so-small bicycle' are sustained by the kindness of reindeer farmers and Serbian rock gods, plus a shameful addiction to Magic Man energy drink. Haunted throughout his journey by mechanical failure and the border detritus of watchtowers and rusted razor wire, Moore reflects on the curdling of the Communist dream and the memories of a Cold War generation reared on the fear of apocalypse at a time of renewed East-West tension. After three months, twenty countries, and steadily warming temperatures, man and bike finally wobble up to a Black Sea beach in Bulgaria, older and wiser, but mainly older"--
Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens
Twain's account of traveling in Europe. A Tramp Abroad sparkles with the author's shrewd observations and highly opinionated comments on Old World culture. A Tramp Abroad includes among its adventures a voyage by raft down the Neckar and an ascent of Mont Blanc by telescope, as well as the author's attempts to study art.
Edward Whymper
The most famous mountaineering book ever written! Contains a vivid account of the 1st ascent of the Matterhorn a and that accident that happened on the way down.
Peter & Leni Gillman
The North Face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps was one of the most dangerous climbs in the mountaineering world, costing the lives of numerous intrepid explorers. In February 1966, two teams - one from Germany, the other a British/American party - decided to try to climb it in a straight line from bottom to top. Astonishingly, neither team knew about the other's attempt until they both arrived at the hotel at the bottom of the Eiger. Suddenly, the race was on. John Harlin led the Anglo/American team and decided the best approach was a swift, lightweight assault on the summit. The Germans, led by Jorg Lehne, had a large team with plenty of equipment, designed to make slow, relentless progress to the top. Watching on, and reporting on events for the Daily Telegraph, was young journalist Peter Gillman - for the Eiger is the most public of mountains, where tourists can watch the life or death dramas from the comfort of the hotel terrace. Now, almost 50 years on, Gillman recalls the tragic events that took place on the Eiger, and assesses how the climb affected those who took part. For some, it would end in death, whereas for mountaineer Chris Bonington it would be the making of his reputation. It was an epic ascent with tragic consequences, redolent of the golden age of adventure.
David Sharp
On 22 July 2012 Chris Froome made history as the first African-born cyclist to stand on the podium at the Tour de France. Ten days later at the London Olympic Games he won a bronze medal in the time trial for his adopted nation in Team GB colours. Froome's path to professional cycling, from mountain biking on dusty roads in the nature reserves of Kenya's Great Rift Valley - alongside wild animals - to the giddy heights of the Tour de France and the Olympics, has been unlike any other in the history of the sport. Born in Nairobi to British parents he was schooled in South Africa and studie.