Combining accounts of legendary mountain ascents with vivid descriptions of his own forays into wild, high landscapes, Robert McFarlane reveals how the mystery of the world’s highest places has came to grip the Western imagination—and perennially draws legions of adventurers up the most perilous slopes.

His story begins three centuries ago, when mountains were feared as the forbidding abodes of dragons and other mysterious beasts. In the mid-1700s the attentions of both science and poetry sparked a passion for mountains; Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Lord Byron extolled the sublime experiences to be had on high; and by 1924 the death on Mt Everest of an Englishman named George Mallory came to symbolize the heroic ideals of his day. Macfarlane also reflects on fear, risk, and the shattering beauty of ice and snow, the competition and contemplation of the climb, and the strange alternate reality of high altitude, magically enveloping us in the allure of mountains at every level

罗伯特-麦克法兰将对传奇性登山的描述与他自己对野外高处风景的生动描述相结合，揭示了世界上最高地方的神秘性是如何抓住西方人的想象力的--并且常年吸引着冒险家们登上最危险的山坡。

他的故事开始于三个世纪前，当时人们担心山是龙和其他神秘野兽的禁地。17世纪中期，科学和诗歌的关注激发了人们对山的热情；让-雅克-卢梭和拜伦勋爵颂扬了在高处的崇高体验；到1924年，一位名叫乔治-马洛里的英国人在珠穆朗玛峰的死亡象征着他那个时代的英雄理想。麦克法兰还反思了恐惧、风险和冰雪的震撼之美，攀登的竞争和沉思，以及高海拔地区奇怪的另类现实，神奇地将我们笼罩在各级山脉的诱惑中。