#1 New York Times bestselling author Johanna Lindsay presents
a powerfully romantic Regency-era tale that is breathtaking in scope
and wondrously passionate.
When Sebastian Townshend, son of the eighth Earl of Edgewood, was banished from his family due to the tragic results of a duel, he vowed never to return to England. Now living on the continent, Sebastian has forged a new identity as a deadly mercenary, The Raven. But his former neighbor, Lady Margaret Landor, has different plans for him. Back in England, Sebastian's father has had several accidents and Margaret suspects foul play and deception that reach as far back as the infamous duel. Convinced that only Sebastian can set the situation to rights, Margaret arranges a scandalous bargain with him that includes Sebastian's returning home as her husband. As the newlyweds uncover a deadly scheme, a fierce passion blossoms between them, which neither anticipated -- and neither can resist.
|
|
|
 |
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster (The Illustrated Edition)
List Price: $40.00
Our Price: $38.80
Your Save: $ 1.20 ( 3% )
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Villard
Book written by: Jon Krakauer
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster (The Illustrated Edition) - book description
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.522092
EAN: 9780375502804
ISBN: 0375502807
Label: Villard
Manufacturer: Villard
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 407
Publication Date: 1998-11-17
Publisher: Villard
Release Date: 1998-11-17
Studio: Villard
|
|
Related Items
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top. No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, in 70-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning he learned that six of his fellow climbers hadn't made it back to their camp and were in a desperate struggle for their lives. When the storm finally passed, five of them would be dead, and the sixth so horribly frostbitten that his right hand would have to be amputated.
       Â
Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest. A New York Times Editors' Choice as a best book of the year, a nominee for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, it has spent well over a year on The New York Times bestseller list and has been published to enormous acclaim around the world.
       Â
Now, in Into Thin Air: The Illustrated Edition, readers are given a new dimension of insight into this harrowing story with the addition of more than 250 photographs that show the people, the places, and the history, illustrating not only the ill-fated 1996 climb, but the pursuit of Everest itself. The book includes the complete text of Into Thin Air, with a new Postscript by the author, and is lavishly illustrated with stunning black-and-white photographs, the majority of which were taken during the 1996 expedition by the climbers themselves.
       Â
Into Thin Air has proven itself a modern classic of nonfiction writing; this new edition finally completes the story and puts it into a form that book lovers will want to keep on their shelves for years to come.
All of Jon Krakauer's share of royalties from sales of this edition of Into Thin Air, and fees for the use of photographs taken by Klev Schoening, Thomas Hornbein, and Lou Kasischke that appear in this edition, will be donated to the Everest '96 Memorial Fund at The Community Foundation, located in Boulder, Colorado. Intended to honor Andy Harris, Doug Hansen, Rob Hall, Yasuko Namba, and Scott Fischer, the Everest '96 Memorial Fund will be used to provide humanitarian aid to the indigenous peoples of the Himalaya; to support organizations working to preserve the natural environment; and to assist various other charities in the United States that support these humanitarian and environmental efforts.
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Breathless
Comment: I was on lunch break at a previous job and reading Walden Pond by Henry David Thoreau for the second time in my life. My co-worker comes up to me and said, "is that a good book, I've never read it?". I told him it was a book I could relate to, because I too like being outside and surrounded by nothing but nature and the way Mr. Thoreau described his experimental sojourn out in the woods was exactly the way I preferred to live too. My friend told me, "I have a book that you would probably like, It's called, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. I'll bring it with me tomorrow and give it to you to borrow." I immensely enjoyed that book!
Beginning of this year while browsing in the nature section at a book store, I came across Into Thin Air by the above same author. I thought to myself, "Jon Krakauer told a very fine story with Into the Wild so maybe I should give this book a chance." It didn't disappoint me.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Riveting
Comment: Even non-outdoorsmen (that would be me) will enjoy this true story of triumph over the mountain. I highly highly recommend!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Not the whole story
Comment: Let me state up front that I'm a Krakauer fan, that I've read (and own) many of his books, that I consider his short story about climbing the Devil's Thumb a true classic in mountaineering literature, and that I've read "Into Thin Air" several times. It is a page turner.
Recently however, I discovered the point of view of someone else covering the same tragedy. I am referring to The Climb by Boukreev and DeWalt. For those that don't know, Boukreev was a guide on the mountain that terrible day and he is cast as a villain in Krakauer's book. To be honest, I was disinclined to hear his side -- I thought it would be some sort of white-wash, I was not interested in hearing a point of view that differs from Krakauer's sharp, no-holds-barred analysis.
But I finally read The Climb. And I must say that it gives one some much-needed perspective on the entire drama. It makes it clear that Krakauer is not unbiased, that he has probably worked too hard to assign blame for the tragedy. According to Krakauer, the main villains are Sandy Hill Pittman (a client) and the professional guide Anatoli Boukreev. From this other perspective, one can understand that Boukreev's actions were completely understandable and correct. One also gets the distinct impression that Krakauer had already made up his mind before interviewing Boukreev and that perhaps the Russian / English language barrier prevented Boukreev from adequately explaining himself.
An unbiased analysis of what happened at the summit of Everest that day might very well assign much blame to expedition leader Rob Hall who was distracted with getting Doug Hansen to the top. This was a misjudgement that eventually cost Hansen, Hall himself, guide Andy Harris, and Yosuko Namba their lives. Yes, Namba's death could be laid at Hall's feet. It was Hall's job to turn Hansen around. It was Hall's job to get his guides and his clients down the mountain. It was Hall's job to account for poor Beck Weathers, who sat freezing on the "Balcony" throughout the day. All these things were Hall's responsibility, yet Krakauer never comes down on Hall in the way he criticized Sandy Pittman or Boukreev. Hall is dead, I know, so it would be in poor taste to criticize a dead man ... especially one who said such poignant things to his wife back in New Zealand. It just wouldn't make for as good a story, would it?
Being critical of Sandy Hill Pittman is manifestly silly. She was a client and as such cannot be blamed for taking too much gear up the mountain. She is not a professional and so should be forgiven such a miscalculation. As for Boukreev, it is clear that he had very good reasons to go quickly down the mountain -- he had fixed rope to the top,
then was worried about getting people down off the route and felt he could best assist down low. He cleared this with his boss, Scott Fischer, who also thought it was a good idea. This plan actually turned out to be prescient -- it was Boukreev, and only Boukreev, that had the energy and the courage to go out looking for the stranded clients on the South Col in the middle of the night. By doing this he saved three lives that would otherwise have been lost. Moreover, he was not in control of the many slight miscalculations that ended so tragically. If we are to blame anyone for that, it would have to be the expedition leaders, Rob Hall and Scott Fischer.
So it is a page turner, yes, and Krakauer is a very smart man and is worth listening to. Like many smart people however, he also suffers from the fault of being maybe a little too certain of his own conclusions.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing adventure story about the 1996 Mt Everest Climbing Disaster
Comment: As a journalist for Outside magazine, Jon Krakauer was assigned to climb and cover a guided trip to the top of Mt Everest. After being dropped off in Kathmandu at the end of March 1996, where he soon meets his guides and co-clients, he is on his way to a memorably grisly adventure. The group slowly makes its way up the mountain, stopping at a series of base camps during a six-week period designed to acclimate their bodies to the extreme altitude. Up until the last day push to the summit on May 10, the trip is exciting, but mostly uneventful. It's only after Krakauer reaches the top and heads back toward camp that a sudden (though not unusual) storm arrives to wreak havoc on the climbers. From that point forward, the situation goes from dire to disaster. The weather situation, combined with a series of unfortunate occurrences (miscommunication between the guides and the clients about the turnaround time, several expeditions choosing to go for the top on the same day, and certain members of the various teams not completing pre-established tasks designed to improve safety) and topped off with the impaired mental and physical condition of many of the climbers leads to a tragedy of epic proportions. When it was all said and done (p xvi) "nine climbers from four expeditions were dead, and three more lives would be lost before the month was out." In his characteristic action-packed style, filled with facts about everything from the mountain to the participants and everything in between, Krakauer paints an excruciatingly cold, snowy, scary picture of what it was like to scale the world's highest peak during a death-record breaking year. Unfortunately, his decision (seemingly due to a combination of survivor's guilt and regret over altitude-affected, incorrect information he provided to prospective rescuers) to include a post-climb "epilogue" chapter takes away from an otherwise objective, near perfect account of the disaster.
Into Thin Air lovers may also enjoy: Into the Wild by Jon Krakaeur, Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, The Yellow Spruce by (Krakauer wanna be) John Vaillant, and The Good Rain by Timothy Egan.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome, gut-wrenching....loved it
Comment: I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT AFTER READING THIS BOOK, I WANT TO START MOUNTAIN CLIMBING. THERE IS THAT SOMETHING IN ME, THAT SAYS YOU CAN DO IT. THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ. MY HEART GOES OUT TO THE FAMILIES AND FRIENDS OF THE VICTIMS. READING THE BOOK ALONE CANNOT EXPLAIN THE FEELING OF CLIMBING AT 29,000 FEET, IT MUST BE SCARY. THE IDEA THAT SOMEONE WOULD LET SOMEONE ELSE DIE ON A MOUNTAIN SO THAT THEY COULD CLIMB TO THE TOP IS ASTOUNDING. WHILE I UNDERSTAND IT, IT IS WILD. I COULD GO ON FOREVER, JUST READ THE BOOK.
|
|
Go to the store to buy Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster (The Illustrated Edition)
|
|
| |
|
|
Books
