It's odd to consider that the one person who has exhaustively tracked, detailed, and archived Himalayan expeditions for the last 50 years is someone who has never climbed a mountain herself. Elizabeth Hawley has interviewed thousands of expedition leaders and is a force of nature every bit as impressive as an alpinist. This portrait of the world's foremost authority on Himalayan mountaineering reflects the character it chronicles by being direct, sharp, and not without a sense of humour.