At the Top of the World: The Greatest Mountains on Earth (And How to Climb Them)

Mountains account for around 5% of the planet’s land surface and fall into five general types, depending on how they are formed: fold mountains (when two tectonic plates push against each other), dome mountains (when lava pushes up a dome of earth, but doesn’t erupt), fault-block mountains (faults in the Earth’s crust pull apart and shift blocks so that they stack on top of each other), volcanic mountains, and plateau mountains (with a flat top).

Mountains also contain their own special ecosystems, inspire myths and legends, and some mountain ranges are incredibly vast. 

And, for many years, mountains have represented a challenge to humans: the desire to reach the summit of mountains such as the Matterhorn, Everest and Kilimanjaro. 

In this fascinating and beautifully illustrated book, we learn about eight famous mountains from around the world: what it’s like to climb them, the dangers of each individual mountain, their features, challenges, and cultural significance. There’s an interesting section about mountain climbing at the beginning of the book, covering everything from practical knot tying to the difference between 19th century and modern-day climbing gear. 

There’s also a useful glossary at the end of the book, giving definitions for some of the more difficult or climbing-specific terms in the book like rappel, moraine, belay and carabiner. Ed Brown’s absolutely lovely colour pencil sketch-style illustrations are a pleasure to look at and enhance the book’s feel of a mountaineer’s journal.