Mountaineering and British Romanticism
Mountaineering and British Romanticism

Author: Simon Bainbridge

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-04-16

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 0192599763

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This book examines the relationship between Romantic-period writing and the activity that Samuel Taylor Coleridge christened 'mountaineering' in 1802. It argues that mountaineering developed as a pursuit in Britain during the Romantic era, earlier than is generally recognised, and shows how writers including William and Dorothy Wordsworth, Ann Radcliffe, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, and Walter Scott were central to the activity's evolution. It explores how the desire for physical ascent shaped Romantic-period literary culture and investigates how the figure of the mountaineer became crucial to creative identities and literary outputs. Illustrated with 25 images from the period, the book shows how mountaineering in Britain had its origins in scientific research, antiquarian travel, and the search for the picturesque and the sublime. It considers how writers engaged with mountaineering's power dynamics and investigates issues including the politics of the summit view (what Wordsworth terms 'visual sovereignty'), the relationships between different types of 'mountaineers', and the role of women in the developing cultures of ascent. Placing the work of canonical writers alongside a wide range of other types of mountaineering literature, this book reassesses key Romantic-period terms and ideas, such as vision, insight, elevation, revelation, transcendence, and the sublime. It opens up new ways of understanding the relationship between Romantic-period writers and the world that they experienced through their feet and hands, as well as their eyes, as they moved through the challenging landscapes of the British mountains.

Scotland's Mountains Before the Mountaineers
Scotland's Mountains Before the Mountaineers

Author: Ian R Mitchell

Publisher: Luath Press Ltd

Published: 2013-08-26

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1909912441

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Winner of the Outdoor Writers Guild Award for Excellence In this new book on pre-mountaineering ascents and near ascents in the Highlands, we have at last a work which does justice to those who lived and worked, travelled and fought in the Highlands before Walter Scott. PROF. BRUCE LENMAN Marvelous account of mountaineering's prehistory... as colourful as it is thought provoking - THE SCOTSMAN This work tells the story of explorations and ascents in the Scottish Highlands in the days before mountaineering became a popular sport - when Jacobites, bandits, poachers and illicit distillers traditionally used the mountains as sanctuary.

Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan

Author: Laurence Mitchell

Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides

Published: 2019-04-05

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 1784776262

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Bradt's Kyrgyzstan remains the only English-language guide dedicated solely to this astounding country, described as 'the Switzerland of central Asia' and regarded by many as the most beautiful country in the world. This new, thoroughly updated fourth edition further extends its comprehensive coverage of all the country has to offer, including trekking, mountaineering, horse riding, historical sites, festivals and Kyrgyz culture. All the most recent information on all the major towns and visitor hubs is included, along with suggested itineraries and details of natural history and conservation issues. Feature boxes throughout the text give further cultural detail on Kyrgyz society, while all budgets are catered for with traveller information covering all options from low-cost to luxury, as well as extensive detail on travel by public transport throughout the country. Deep within central Asia, Kyrgyzstan's beautiful mountainscapes, dreamlike rock formations and semi-nomadic culture are gloriously unspoiled. A trip here can be as adventurous as you please: admire 5,000-year-old petroglyphs at Saimaluu-Tash, gallop on horseback through the alpine meadows that surround 3,016m-high Lake Song-Köl, go trekking in the mountain valleys that lie south of Karakol, visit Bishkek's Soviet-era statues or simply laze on the shores of the vast Lake Issyk-Kul. Kyrgyzstan has it all: glorious mountain scenery, a rich nomadic tradition, Silk Road monuments and thrilling wildlife. It also remains an intriguing, little known but easily accessible country for travellers. With in-depth coverage of historical background, health, safety and transport, plus author recommendations on the best yurt camps and chaikhanas, Bradt's Kyrgyzstan is the ideal companion for a successful trip.