Britain does not, to the impartial observer, appear to have any mountains. Yet the British invented the sport of mountain climbing, and for two periods in history, British climbers led the world in its pursuit. Unjustifiable Risk is an exploration of why — a social, economic and cultural history of British climbing and mountaineering over 200 years, tracing the conditions that gave rise to the sport and the extraordinary range of people who have shaped it.

Simon Thompson charts the full arc of British climbing history, from the search for the sublime in the pre-Victorian era to the reinvention of the impossible in the modern age. Entertaining, rigorously researched and written with a sharp eye for character and context, it is essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in climbing and mountaineering history.

• The book traces the social, economic and cultural conditions that gave rise to British climbing, examining the role of class, gender, nationalism and war in shaping the sport, and how climbing has in turn contributed to changing attitudes to nature, beauty, heroism and death
• Key periods are explored in depth, from the Golden Age of alpinism in the 1850s and 1860s through the Edwardian era of gentlemen and gymnasts, the interwar years, the post-war hard men of the 1950s and 1960s, and the reinvention of rock climbing and mountaineering after 1970
• The climbers and mountaineers who shaped British climbing are brought vividly to life, from the scientists and poets of the Victorian era to the working-class climbers who transformed the sport in the twentieth century
• The book examines how increasing wealth, leisure and mobility gradually transformed climbing from an activity undertaken by an eccentric and privileged minority into part of the mainstream leisure industry, while competition and technology drove standards to unimaginable levels
• An appendix covers climbing grades and a glossary of climbing terms, making the book accessible to readers new to the sport as well as those already familiar with its history

Shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Prize in 2011, this is a rich and absorbing account of British climbing history, from its Victorian origins to the modern era. Essential reading for climbers, mountaineers and anyone drawn to the story of how Britain came to lead the world in the pursuit of mountains.

Chapter 1  Introduction   

Chapter 2 Before 1854: In Search of the Sublime   

From gloom to glory   
Aesthetes and heroes   

Chapter 3 1854–65: A Conscious Divinity   

Chapter 4 1865–1914: Gentlemen and Gymnasts   

The Alps   
The Lake District   
North Wales   
Scotland   
Outcrops   
The Greater Ranges   

Chapter 5 1914–39: Organised Cowardice   

The Lake District   
North Wales   
Scotland   
Outcrops   
The Alps   
The Greater Ranges   

Chapter 6 1939–70: Hard Men in an Affluent Society   

North Wales  
The Lake District   
Scotland   
Outcrops   
The Alps   
The Greater Ranges   

Chapter 7 After 1970: Reinventing the Impossible   

Rock climbing   
Mountaineering   

Chapter 8 Because it’s there?   

Notes   
List of Photographs   

Appendix I A Note on Grades   

Appendix II Glossary of Climbing Terms   

Selected Bibliography  

Index   

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