Seven Summits is a fantastic book by Steve Bell (a superb British mountaineer) all about the highest mountains on each continent. For each mountain there's detailed explanation about the various climbing routes, the best climbing season, flora and fauna, weather, statistical information, etc.
The mountains of focus, if you didn't know them already, are Everest, Asia, 8848m; Aconcagua, South America, 6960m; McKinley, North America, 6194; Kilimanjaro, Africa, 5895m; Elbrus, Europe, 5642m; Vinson, Antarctica, 4897m; and Kosciusko, Australia, 2228m/Carstenz, Oceania, 4884m.
Most of the book is comprised of touching personal accounts from climbers who have reached the summit of a particular mountain; even diary entries, such as Jasuko Namba's whilst she was on Everest on the 10th May, 1996: her last diary entry before a freak storm killed her and 7 other climbers in one of Everest's worst disasters. The back of the book includes diary contributions with short bios of the contributors, as well as a table of all of the successful 'seven summiteers'.
Seven Summits is a very classy and professional book, as you would expect from this specialist non-fiction genre. Photos are plentiful, and always outstanding. The writing style (presumably Steve Bell's) is superb, and captures the emotions that these mountains evoke wonderfully...
Whether you're a elite mountaineer or just simply interested in mountains, this book is well worth buying. A similar highly recommended book is 'On Top of The World' by Richard Sale & John Cleare, which documents the world's 14 highest mountains, all in the Himalayas. It's similar to Seven Summits but a little bigger; but of course it doesn't capture the delights of other mountain ranges around the world like what Seven Summits does. Large hardcover with dust jacket.
