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Ed Caesar

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The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War, and Everest Kindle Edition

by Ed Caesar (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 1,170 ratings

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“An outstanding book.” —The Wall Street Journal * “Gripping at every turn.” —Outside * “A hell of a ride.” —The Times (London)

An extraordinary true story about one man’s attempt to salve the wounds of war and save his own soul through an audacious adventure.

In the 1930s, as official government expeditions set their sights on conquering Mount Everest, a little-known World War I veteran named Maurice Wilson conceives his own crazy, beautiful plan: he will fly a plane from England to Everest, crash-land on its lower slopes, then become the first person to reach its summit—completely alone. Wilson doesn’t know how to climb. He barely knows how to fly. But he has the right plane, the right equipment, and a deep yearning to achieve his goal. In 1933, he takes off from London in a Gipsy Moth biplane with his course set for the highest mountain on earth. Wilson’s eleven-month journey to Everest is wild: full of twists, turns, and daring. Eventually, in disguise, he sneaks into Tibet. His icy ordeal is just beginning.

Wilson is one of the Great War’s heroes, but also one of its victims. His hometown of Bradford in northern England is ripped apart by the fighting. So is his family. He barely survives the war himself. Wilson returns from the conflict unable to cope with the sadness that engulfs him. He begins a years-long trek around the world, burning through marriages and relationships, leaving damaged lives in his wake. When he finally returns to England, nearly a decade after he first left, he finds himself falling in love once more—this time with his best friend’s wife—before depression overcomes him again. He emerges from his funk with a crystalline ambition. He wants to be the first man to stand on top of the world. Wilson believes that Everest can redeem him.

This is the “rollicking” (The Economist) tale of an adventurer unlike any you have ever encountered: complex, driven, wry, haunted, and fully alive. He is a man written out of the history books—dismissed as an eccentric and gossiped about because of rumors of his transvestism. The Moth and the Mountain restores Maurice Wilson to his rightful place in the annals of Everest and tells an unforgettable story about the power of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“An outstanding book . . . The Moth and the Mountain returns readers to a romantic era when Everest was terra nova rather than an experience to be bought . . . The author, a contributing writer for the New Yorker, is a talented storyteller with a flair for detail. . . . Wilson’s story is an entry less in the annals of mountaineering than in the Book of Life. That such an extraordinary person even existed is cause for celebration.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“A rollicking biography of an eccentric adventurer, and a sensitive study of the pressures that drove him . . . Unlike the airy and ill-prepared Wilson, Mr. Caesar grounds his story in patient archival sleuthing. Marrying extracts from Wilson’s letters and diaries with lively prose, he winningly conveys the glamour and contradictions of this outlandish figure, bringing cinematic vividness to his escapades.”
—The Economist

“Gripping at every turn . . . Caesar tells the story in impressive detail, drawing on years of archival research, and he brings to life a historical character who is both fascinating and maddening. . . . It’s impossible not to root for Wilson.”
—Outside

“This slim, riveting book hits all the right notes for an epic tale: the trauma of World War I, messy love triangles, globetrotting adventures, and a wayward soul hellbent on conquering his inner demons.”
—InsideHook

“Irresistible . . . Caesar is a terrific writer. . . . The Moth and the Mountain has many, many riveting moments of storytelling and insight.”
—BookPage

“Ed Caesar has written a slim, ravishing chronicle that is absolutely bursting with life—doomed romance, the dread of the battlefield, the lure of adventure, hair-raising tales of amateur aviation, and, above all, the beauty and madness of the quest to ascend Earth’s tallest summit. Maurice Wilson is as rich and full of surprise and contradiction as a character in a novel, and through painstaking historical research, Caesar brings his hero back to vivid life in all his messy, inspiring, ultimately tragic glory. A major feat of reporting and elegant storytelling.”
—Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing

“A wonderful adventure story, beautifully told. Based on years of painstaking archival research, Ed Caesar’s The Moth and the Mountain brings us a modern-day myth with a beguiling, impossible hero from a vanished era of empire, one man on an epic quest that is by turns gripping and heartbreaking.”
—Adam Higginbotham, author of Midnight in Chernobyl

“The Moth and the Mountain is a gripping story of heroism, adventure, madness, and thwarted love, told with extraordinary empathy and intelligence. Ed Caesar is a writer of rare style and depth, and he has written a great and moving work of nonfiction.”
—Mark O’Connell, author of Notes from an Apocalypse

“The Moth and the Mountain is gorgeous and deeply affecting book: a tale of tragedy and obsession, pluck and luck, told at the pace of a thriller and bursting with heart. Ed Caesar deploys every ounce of his considerable journalistic skill as he uncovers the true story of a great British eccentric driven by forces he only partly understands to the ends of the earth. This book deserves to be counted alongside Wade Davis’s Into The Silence as one of the best ever written about the early attempts to conquer Everest. It is a fine, fine slice of history by a truly special writer who proves time and time again that he is among the best of his generation.”
—Dan Jones, author of The Templars

“A story of adventure and war, of eccentricity and courage, of love and secrets and of the overwhelming urge one man had to climb the world’s highest mountain. Ed Caesar writes like a dream, beautifully piecing together Maurice Wilson’s life with compassion and intelligence. It’s hard to imagine a finer tribute to one of Everest’s forgotten heroes.”
—Elizabeth Day, author of How to Fail

"Why climb the world's highest mountain? For King and Country; for the glory of God; because it is there. Or, as for Maurice Wilson, because of an unhappy love affair, a wartime trauma, and a longing to get away from a life whose values are measured at the cash register. In Ed Caesar's telling, the hapless, defiant Wilson becomes an unexpected hero—an unforgettable inspiration for anyone who chafes at the limits of ordinary life."
—Benjamin Moser, author of Sontag

"Caesar has created a widely appealing and affecting character study, microhistory, story of love and loss, and inquiry into some surprising effects of trauma and personal tragedy."
—Booklist

"An evocative portrait . . . This entertaining, well-researched chronicle is a valuable addition to mountaineering history."
—Publishers Weekly

“Credit to Ed Caesar for rescuing such a splendid tale of an engaging maverick from the footnotes of Everest history. . . . Caesar has told the extraordinary story of this intrepid ‘madman’ in an engrossing biography. . . . A lovely book.”
—The Spectator

“A small classic in the making. . . Drivingly paced yet poignant—a compelling portrait of a broken man who became so fixated on Everest that he tried to climb it. . . . An urgent and humane story.”
—Sunday Times (London)

“Meticulously researched . . . Gem of a book.”
—The Guardian

“This bonkers ripping yarn of derring-don’t is a hell of a ride. . . . Scrupulously researched.”
—The Times (London)

About the Author

Ed Caesar is an author and a contributing writer to The New Yorker. Before joining The New Yorker, Caesar wrote stories for The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Outside, The Smithsonian Magazine, Esquire, The Sunday Times (London), British GQ, and The Independent. He has reported from a wide range of countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo, Russia, and Iran. He has won a number of awards for his journalism, including the 2014 Journalist of the Year from the Foreign Press Association of London. His first book, Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon, was awarded a Cross Sports Book of the Year award.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B084GB44K2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster (November 17, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 17, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 17452 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 278 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #102,482 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #9 in Air Travel Reference (Books)
- #10 in Mountaineering (Kindle Store)
- #30 in Aviation History (Books)

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4.4 1,170 ratings

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Thereisnopublicname

The most inspiring and compelling story I HAVE EVER READ

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2023

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Given the inbred simpleminded consensus in my country for the conception of achievement and success, I imagine British readers will have a distinct cultural advantage in empathizing with a story that prematurely ended in death and began with a less than 1% chance of survival — indeed a fact which the protagonist was most assuredly aware.

No person not in full possession of their faculties would have accomplished half of the astonishing miracles in this story — as evidenced by, among other things, the fact that only the most able and experienced high altitude climbers in the world could have found his remains. But it is nonetheless unsurprising such facts failed to establish any cause for the glorification of his memory among the feeble collective imagination of the American people.

We can reasonably assume that the climbers of the early Everest expeditions were driven by a sense of survivor's guilt from the war. Whatever the psychology or motivation that impelled and drove Wilson, his story is nothing less than a towering monument to human courage. I do not know of a reasonably equivalent precedent in the annals of adventure.

It's just sad that Wilson himself didn’t have a chance to read the book and see the fanfare as it took off — pun intended — with his happy countenance all over the internet. As Caesar brilliantly showed by the sheer power of his forensics and imagination, Wilson, as we all are, was a complex person. Being a biographer Caesar knows better than anyone that a life can’t be so easily simplified — I think this is why great books commonly far surpass great movies/screenplays. It was and is a story both inspiring and tragic at the same time. So much that it often left me in tears — just thinking about it still does. What a person. What a story. What a book.

One person found this helpful

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John F. Slattery

Not what you'd expect

Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2021

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this was an entertaining book but it took some twist and turns I didn't expect. I was expecting a novel about a man's triumphs over life's challenges but it was much more realistic than that. the author does an excellent job depicting a constant series of hardships the lead character must deal with. something unsuccessfully but all so true for that time period. One can imagine the anguish he felt as he endeavored to move his life forward. It does seem he made this harder than needed at times but that made it all the more real.

One person found this helpful

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J. K. Campbell

One of History's Forgotten Characters

Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2020

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I enjoy reading about quirky historical characters who deserve to be remembered today. Therefore I appreciated the research undertaken by author Caesar to bring Wilson's tale into the light. It was one of the better books I have read during the pandemic, combining elements of last year's hit movie,"1917" with Maugham's classic novel, "The Razor's Edge". Those who like the book might want to check out the following list: Susan Stein's "On Distant Service", Edward Larson's "To the Edge of the Earth", Ben Montgomery's "The Man Who Walked Backward", and David Bristow's "Flight to the Top of the World".

11 people found this helpful

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StephenL

Great read BUT irritating formatting errors

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2021

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All the apostrophes and quote marks (and maybe other punctuation) in this book are displayed as weird character strings like €™©€. This does not make for enjoyable reading, and displays mighty technical incompetence/stupidity/laziness by the publisher.

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2020

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This book offered everything to sate my personal interest and I was looking forward to it. The description of Wilson's journey into Tibet disguised as a monk that opened the book was thrilling, the delve back into a description of WW1 harrowing (but good) and then the writer takes a turn into his "fact-checkery" New Yorker-esque research style which is very tedious. The story itself is so exciting but the writer renders it in such a dull fashion and his research consists mostly of uninteresting letters written to a married woman back home.
It was disappointing that Caesar negated most of the spiritualist aspect of life that was wildly popular in Britain in early C20th and also glossed over the fact that while Britain was uptight on the exterior, in private they could be a lot wilder than we are today. He very briefly discusses Wilson's possible/likely cross-dressing with a "the man's not on trial" politically-correct stance so boring in journalists of our era. In fact, every intimation of an interesting side to Wilson's character was dismissed by the author for a return to his beloved dry facts.
Also, where in the world was his editor? Endless repetitions like "started the community at Rongbuk in the early years of the century and built a community..." (Further description of this community is also foregone by Caesar who clearly thinks that writing means wrestling a list of facts into a sequence.) Disappointing miss here.

21 people found this helpful

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Climber

good mountaineering book

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2022

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I am a climber and this book held my attention. It is very well researched and written. It makes you cheer for the climber Wilson who is attempting to do the impossible. Everyone agreed his desires reflected madness. Everyone but Wilson himself.

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Susan Dawson

Great story of interesting man

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2021

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This is a wonderfully written story of an interesting man. It's well written and brings in many aspects of Wilson's life that build a full character of this unusually driven man. I didn't know this story so was enthralled with his crazy determination. I'll read more from this author, for sure.

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Gary Kastal

WWI And It’s Physical and Psychological Aftershocks

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2020

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This book succeeds in its understatement and sensitive treatment of an individual, Maurice Wilson, and the physical, psychological and emotional toll he suffered in service to his country during WWI. Ed Caesar, the author, aptly conveys to his audience the many trials and conundrums, Wilson deals with, oftentimes mortally conflicted, but through each downturn, finds a way to triumph and puts a positive spin on a multitude of obstacles and dilemmas. It is fitting that Wilson attempts to conquer the seemingly unconquerable Everest, seeing a finality not only in succeeding, but also seeing a finality and purpose in the sense of one soul seeking true meaning and understanding of self and one’s place in the world.

Highly recommend!!

8 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Rahul

If you love real life adventure

Reviewed in India on February 4, 2024

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Its a exiting book for those who wish to thrive for new challenges and adventure .

Mr. S. Cartlidge

Brilliant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 24, 2023

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"The Moth and the Mountain" is an extraordinary journey into the realms of adventure, resilience, and the human spirit. This captivating book skillfully weaves together the true story of Maurice Wilson's audacious attempt to conquer Everest and his personal struggles. The author's vivid storytelling transports readers to a time when exploration was both daring and uncharted. The book beautifully delves into Wilson's determination, his connection with nature, and the challenges he faced. A remarkable tale of courage and ambition, "The Moth and the Mountain" is an inspiring read that lingers in the mind long after the final page.