Tour diary: The Great Himalayan Ascents

One of the greatest mountaineers of the 20th century, Frank S Smythe was also a celebrated memoirist and adventure writer. ‘The Great Himalayan Ascents’ brings together three accounts of his most thrilling ascents. The Kangchenjunga Adventure narrates in detail the 1930 expedition to climb the third-highest mountain in the world. In Kamet Conquered, Smythe makes a successful bid at ascending Mount Kamet in 1931, which was at that time still unscaled. Camp Six recounts a gripping adventure on the 1933 Everest Expedition. The omnibus edition is a rare treat.

A Biker’s Pilgrimage: Forgotten Edifices, Unfortunate Histories

Biker and visual artist Sabya Sachi Ghosh’s book, ‘A Biker’s Pilgrimage’, presents history from the perspective of a place or a monument, instead of the epochs around an individual or an event. Focusing on eight important ancient places in North India, which faced destruction at the hands of conquerors and invaders, the book tries to understand the complex layers of India’s past as it documents ancient ruins and archaeological sites. The author intersperses the history of the place with his personal narratives about biking to those places.