Limits of the Known

In a book that is part memoir and part history, David Roberts looks back at his personal relationship to extreme risk and tries to make sense of why so many have committed their lives to the desperate pursuit of adventure.

In the wake of his diagnosis with throat cancer, Roberts seeks the answer with sharp new urgency. He explores his own lifelong commitment to adventuring, as well as the cultural contributions of explorers throughout history. He looks at what it meant in 1911 for Amundsen to reach the South Pole or in 1953 for Hillary and Norgay to summit the highest point on earth. And he asks what the future of adventure is in a world we have mapped and trodden all the way to the most remote corners of the wilderness.

About the author

David Roberts (1943–2021) was the author of thirty books on mountaineering, exploration, and anthropology. His books have won the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature and the Grand Prize at the Banff Mountain Book Competition.

Summary

A celebrated mountaineer and author searches for meaning in great adventures and explorations, past and present.

Product details

• Authors: David Roberts, Roberts David
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 28.02.2019
• EAN: 9780393356595
• ISBN: 978-0-393-35659-5
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 211 mm x 23 mm
• Weight: 282 g
• Illustrations: 3 maps
• Subjects: Guides > Sport > Other sports disciplines; Humanities, art, music > History; Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Biographies, autobiographies; Autobiography: general, SPORTS & RECREATION / Mountaineering, Climbing & mountaineering, Memoirs, HISTORY / Expeditions & Discoveries, Geographical discovery & exploration, Geographical discovery and exploration, Climbing and mountaineering, SPORTS & RECREATION / Rock Climbing, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Memoirs