TheMoth and the Mountain by Ed Caesar in Hardcover

Discover an epic adventure filled with tragedy and doomed romance in TheMoth and the Mountain by Ed Caesar. For fans of the genre and readers of cinematic scope, this is a must-read that delves into the lives of historical figures such as Philippe Sands and Bart Van Es. With exclusive access to untapped sources and archives from the Wilson family, author Ed Caesar brings to life the mad, yet magnificent tale of Maurice Wilson's quest to ascend Earth's tallest summit. This gripping story is written by a star New Yorker journalist and has received praise from fellow writers such as Patrick Radden Keefe, Mark O'Connell, Philippe Sands, and Dan Jones. Don't miss out on this beautifully written, award-winning book that will leave you in awe of Maurice Wilson's extraordinary life.In the 1930s, as official government expeditions set their sights on conquering Everest, a little-known 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 didn't 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 world.

Maurice 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 mountains?