Mountaineering has always demanded a fine balancing act between calculated risk-taking and the basic instinct for survival. The pioneers of the Victorian golden age tested this balance as they pushed themselves further and further, first in the Alps and later in the Himalayas. Of them all, it was perhaps Mummery whose attitude to climbing is closest to that of the 1990s, and this book recreates his first ascent of the Grepon. It also traces his attempts on Nanga Parbat, where he was to lose his life. In a book which treads across the stepping stones of Alpine and Himalayan climbing history, from the backbiting that attended the first ascent of Mont Blanc to the possibility of a sponsored race up Everest, Chris Bonington explores the way climbers develop their skills in order to push back the frontiers of the possible. He draws on his first-hand experience as a climber and interviews with notable climbers from both Europe and America. Bonington, a leading British climber for the last three decades, offers a history of mountain climbing from 1786 to 1990. The golden age of mountaineering in the Alps, expedition siege climbing in the Himalayas, and the alpine-style small party climbs of the 1970s and 1980s are given due space, while a final chapter touches on the latest developments in championship and sport climbing. The occasional Briticism ("bloody-mindedness") distracts, but American, Eastern European, and Asian climbing achievements are given as much space as British and West European ascents. Especially interesting or useful are Bonington's comments on incidents in the ascents he describes. His book offers less detail on individual ascents than Walt Unsworth's Hold the Heights (LJ 5/15/94), yet Bonington offers wider coverage of mountaineering history. A desirable purchase for most general collections. Paula M. Strain, Rockville, Md. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.