The Moth and the Mountain

A True Story of Love, War, and Everest

Ed Caesar

• Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781501143380
• eBook ISBN:
  9781501143397
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

“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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Prologue: The World Will Be on Fire
• Chapter One: Do I Understand This Madman?
• Chapter Two: Owing to His Pluck
• Chapter Three: Exiles in a Strange Country
• Chapter Four: Good Old Days of Early Freedom
• Chapter Five: Bullet-Proof Soldier
• Chapter Six: The Naked Soul
• Chapter Seven: Most Amazing Air Adventure Ever Attempted
• Chapter Eight: He Is Not Repeat Not to Proceed
• Chapter Nine: Adventure Personified
• Chapter Ten: All Pretty
• Chapter Eleven: Moorland Grass
• Chapter Twelve: Cheerio
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgments
• Notes on Sources
• About the Author
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Image Credits
• Copyright