Boundless Horizons

Individually the three volumes of Chris Bonington’s autobiography are collector’s items. Here they are brought together in a value-for-money omnibus. I Chose to Climb, was published in 1966 and told of his initiation into mountaineering, from schoolboy beginnings, culminating in the British ascent of the North Face of the Eiger and his decision to turn professional. The Next Horizon picks up where that volume left off and relates his subsequent adventures as a mountaineer, photographer, journalist and expedition leader ending in the summer of 1972 with preparations for the autumn Everest expedition. In the event this expedition only just failed to put a British climber on top of the world’s highest mountain for the first time. The last volume The Everest Years chronicles his four expeditions to the world’s highest peak and Bonington’s obsession with this particular mountain. In all three books we learn about the charismatic generation of climbing personalities who were his friends, with whom he shared his triumphs and fights for survival on dangerous and sometimes tragic expeditions. We learn too of Chris Bonington’s development into the devoted family man and celebrity he is today.