Unjustifiable Risk?. Simon Thompson

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      From the moment I set out to write the story of British climbing, I have been guided along the way by generations of climbers who have written about their own exploits, as well as the many outstanding biographers and historians who have recorded and interpreted the actions of others. All of the authors listed in the Bibliography have contributed something to this book, but I am particularly indebted to Trevor Braham, Ronald Clark, Alan Hankinson, Peter Hansen, Trevor Jones, Arnold Lunn, Jim Perrin, Ted Pyatt, Robert Macfarlane, Kenneth Mason, Geoff Milburn, Jan Morris, Marjorie Nicolson, Simon Schama, Walt Unsworth, Colin Wells and Ken Wilson.

      Apart from Colin Wells’ excellent ‘sampler’, A Brief History of British Mountaineering (2001), produced for the Mountain Heritage Trust, it is many years since anybody has attempted to compress nearly 200 years of British rock climbing and mountaineering history into a single book. Inevitably, I have included many of the classic lines, for the benefit of those who may be exploring the history of climbing for the first time, but I hope that even the most seasoned veteran of mountain literature will discover one or two new variants here.

      Throughout the book I have made extensive use of quotations to try to capture the spirit of the times in which the events I have described took place. I am very grateful to the following publishers and authors for their kind permission to reproduce extracts from the works detailed in the Notes: Bâton Wicks; the estate of Peter Boardman; Canongate Books; Chris Bonington; Constable & Robinson; Dennis Gray; Peter Hansen; Hodder & Stoughton; The Mountaineers Books; Orion Publishing; Jim Perrin; Random House Group; The Scottish Mountaineering Trust; the estate of Joe Tasker; Neil Wilson Publishing; and Walt Unsworth. Unsuccessful attempts were made to trace the copyright holders of a number of

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