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    The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War, and Everest
    The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War, and Everest
    The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War, and Everest
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War, and Everest

    Written by Ed Caesar

    Narrated by James Langton

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    About this audiobook

    “An outstanding book.” —The Wall Street Journal * “Gripping at every turn.” —Outside * “A hell of a ride.” —The Times (London)

    An extraordinary true story about one man’s attempt to salve the wounds of war and save his own soul through an audacious adventure.

    In the 1930s, as official government expeditions set their sights on conquering Mount Everest, a little-known World War I veteran named Maurice Wilson conceives his own crazy, beautiful plan: he will fly a plane from England to Everest, crash-land on its lower slopes, then become the first person to reach its summit—completely alone. Wilson doesn’t know how to climb. He barely knows how to fly. But he has the right plane, the right equipment, and a deep yearning to achieve his goal. In 1933, he takes off from London in a Gipsy Moth biplane with his course set for the highest mountain on earth. Wilson’s eleven-month journey to Everest is wild: full of twists, turns, and daring. Eventually, in disguise, he sneaks into Tibet. His icy ordeal is just beginning.

    Wilson is one of the Great War’s heroes, but also one of its victims. His hometown of Bradford in northern England is ripped apart by the fighting. So is his family. He barely survives the war himself. Wilson returns from the conflict unable to cope with the sadness that engulfs him. He begins a years-long trek around the world, burning through marriages and relationships, leaving damaged lives in his wake. When he finally returns to England, nearly a decade after he first left, he finds himself falling in love once more—this time with his best friend’s wife—before depression overcomes him again. He emerges from his funk with a crystalline ambition. He wants to be the first man to stand on top of the world. Wilson believes that Everest can redeem him.

    This is the “rollicking” (The Economist) tale of an adventurer unlike any you have ever encountered: complex, driven, wry, haunted, and fully alive. He is a man written out of the history books—dismissed as an eccentric and gossiped about because of rumors of his transvestism. The Moth and the Mountain restores Maurice Wilson to his rightful place in the annals of Everest and tells an unforgettable story about the power of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

    Editor's Note

    Wild adventure…

    This is the true story of a World War I veteran with no climbing experience who vows to reach the summit of Mount Everest. After years of post-war travels, failed marriages, and self-destruction, Maurice Wilson hatched a plan to fly his biplane — a Gipsy Moth — from England to Mount Everest. The 1933 adventure became a wild one with twists, turns, surprises, and humor along the way.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateNov 17, 2020
    ISBN9781797116860
    Author

    Ed Caesar

    Ed Caesar is an author and a contributing writer to The New Yorker. Before joining The New Yorker, Caesar wrote stories for The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Outside, The Smithsonian Magazine, Esquire, The Sunday Times (London), British GQ, and The Independent. He has reported from a wide range of countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo, Russia, and Iran. He has won a number of awards for his journalism, including the 2014 Journalist of the Year from the Foreign Press Association of London. His first book, Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon, was awarded a Cross Sports Book of the Year award.

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    Reviews for The Moth and the Mountain

    4/5

    45 ratings3 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Story of a man obsessed. Willing to endure hardship and deprivation, a WWI veteran seeks to find relief by focusing on his quest to conquer a mountain.
    • 3/5
      Not my favorite boon. I read biographies to learn something another person can teach me to build a better character or how to meet life. This book is about a moderately manic person who pursues unrealizable goals a La Don Quixote—not my cup of tea.
    • 5/5
      A very engaging story about a colorful character. A surprisingly great find.