Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 A very English Adventure October 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A very readable account of two amateur mountaineers (their training comprised of a weekend of instruction in Snowdonia) as they set of to conquer the lofty peaks of Mir Samir in the Hindu Kush.
At time the trials and tribulations endured by Eric Newby and his climbing partner Hugh Carless on their journey read like a Noel Coward farce - Wilfred Thesiger they are not ! A very English sense of humour shines through the principal characters' often strained relationship.
A shame there aren't more photographs to accompany the text (the result of a bungled river crossing) but the 50th anniversary edition features an epilogue written by Hugh Carless.
An enjoyable read.
 A real adventure story to enjoy October 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This incredible story dates back to 1956, when two very English gentlemen decided on a whim to go into one of the most inaccessible corners of the planet. This book will amuse and surprise you on at least two levels: firstly, the challenges they happily take on and endure are terrifying by modern outdoor travel standards (they undertook just one session of mountain climbing practice in Wales and brought along brand new hiking boots, not yet worn in, for example) and secondly, their unshakeable "Englishness" above all, at all times, almost comes across as something out of a Noel Coward play. Several times, the trip might have come to an end, but they lived to tell the tale, and Mr. Newby has told it very well. I would agree this is by far his best book. Enjoy.
The Best Travel Book of All July 29, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
From the pathetically inadequate preparations to the cooking of Eric Newby`s watch to the meeting with Thesiger...One absurd incident follows another as the two brave and foolish climbers fail to achieve their declared aim. It is such a funny book, every page is a joy. It is the kind of book you hope will never end. Sadly it does. Nothing to do but read it again...but, alas, I lent my copy to someone, and then it went out of print.
Luckily I managed to find a replacement in a second hand book shop.
So glad its in print again,now I can lend my copy without risk of being unable to replace it if it strays..
Excellent, light hearted, down to Earth - but not frivolous. October 17, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
As per the other user reviews, this tells the story of a trip to the Hindu Kush taken in 1956 - apparently on no more than a whim.
Eric Newby was working in the fashion industry for some years before the journey and the opening chapter covers some of his time here.
As with other parts of the book, this can be a little confusing. Mr Newby also neglects to mention his time in the SBS and his earlier endeavours before and during the 2nd world war.
This book worked well on 2 levels for me -
Firstly, a charming travelogue chronicling the adventures and mishaps of 2 supposedly entirely inexperienced climbers going from a 2 day crash course in the Welsh mountains to the Hindu Kush in the space of weeks.
Bear in mind this lies in Afghanistan - "Kafiristan" - or Nuristan - is a region of that country rather than a country in its own right.
Secondly, many of the places mentioned on the way to the mountains are also mentioned in Rory Stewart's excellent book - "The Places In Between". In this book, Mr Stewart describes his walk across the mountains of Afghanistan in 2002.
The differences (or lack thereof) in the near half century gap are fascinating.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in either travel or the current situation in this region. On one level it is a simple and often funny story, on another an insight into a culture and way of life which must surely be living on borrowed time.
The Hindu Kush and the British Upper Classes March 17, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
this book was written years ago, before tourism was common. the travellers are completely clueless and ill-equipped - compare them to Dervla Murphy on the same area - and consequently you are pulled into how they are going to survive in this brutal landscape. A good read, and an eye-opener about the upper class adventurers of the past.
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