Triumph and Tragedy: the Life of Edward Whymper is an engrossing account of the extraordinary life of Edward Whymper (1840-1911), the best known but perhaps least understood mountain climber of the 19th century. Acclaimed as the first to scale the Matterhorn, Whymper personifies the spirited amateurism of the Golden Age of Mountaineering (1854-1865).Triumph and Tragedy accompanies a young but supremely confident Whymper on exhilarating ascents and narrow escapes amid beautiful, often dangerous Alpine peaks. The book lays bare the trauma of his companions’ deaths on the Matterhorn, and empathizes with him during the intense pressures of the accident’s aftermath. Emil Henry’s thoroughly researched biography then moves on to Whymper’s post-Matterhorn years. Following the publication of his classic Scrambles Amongst the Alps, Whymper travels first to Greenland’s unexplored interior and then to the high Andes mountains of South America where he becomes the first westerner to reach a 20,000 foot summit. In later life he is recognized as a noted explorer and the author of two best-selling books illustrated with drawings from a sketch-pad kept always in his shirt pocket. Triumph and Tragedy: the Life of Edward Whymper offers new and refreshing insights into the life of this notable Victorian personality. Spread throughout the book are examples of Whymper’s accomplishments as an author, artist, natural scientist, pioneering photographer, lecturer, and raconteur.

The first edition narrating the ascent of the Matterhorn, with numerous illustrations: maps, views, equipment

The Alps are Europe's highest mountain range: their broad arc stretches right across the center of the continent, encompassing a wide range of traditions and cultures. Andrew Beattie explores the turbulent past and vibrant present of this landscape, where early pioneers of tourism, mountaineering, and scientific research, along with the enduring legacies of historical regimes from the Romans to the Nazis, have all left their mark.

Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the first climb of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper and his party in July 1865, this pictorial book features over 100 pages of photographs of the world's most recognisable mountain, together with tantalising extracts from Whymper s own books - 'Scrambles Amongst the Alps' and 'The Ascent of the Matterhorn', and the details of Graeme Wallace's attempt to traverse the summit via the Lion Ridge in Italy and down the Hornli Ridge in Switzerland, 150 years later in 2015.