|
No Picnic on Mount Kenya: A Daring Escape, a Perilous Climb | 
 enlarge | Author: Felice Benuzzi
Publisher: The Lyons Press
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
Buy New: £3.89
You Save: £6.10 (61%)
New (14) Used (10) from £3.73
Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 232513
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 248
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 1592287247
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.547241092
EAN: 9781592287246
ASIN: 1592287247
Publication Date: July 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Like New, never read, may have small remainder mark - Ships from Canada by Air Mail, Delivery within 2 to 3 weeks, 100% Satisfaction Guarantee! Over 150,000 Amazon.co.uk orders filled
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews:
 snoozer August 15, 2008
masspecguy (uk)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Read this in two nights -yep its a cure for insomnia.
the book is a over detailed discription of a mountain climb wraped up in a lax P.O.W. setting
the introduction even compares it to "the long walk"-belive me this is no long walk
 Escape to escapism August 12, 2008
D. Elliott (Ulverston, Cumbria)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The author of `No Picnic on Mount Kenya', Felice Benuzzi, was an Italian prisoner of war held by the British in a camp in East Africa during the Second World War. PoW Camp 354 just happened to be at the foot of Mount Kenya - providing a setting for escape and for extreme escapism. When he first viewed the mountain Benuzzi was spellbound by "a massive blue-black tooth of sheer rock inlaid with azure glaciers, austere yet floating fairylike on the near horizon". From the monotony of routine prison life Mount Kenya became a symbol of freedom, and it dominated the dreams of Felice Benuzzi.
`No Picnic on Mount Kenya' tells the story of Benuzzi and two fellow prisoners, from their planning and preparation, through absconding and approaching the mountain, then the climbing, to their return to break back into prison. This involved assembling equipment and supplies as for any expedition, but for them it meant manufacturing ice-axes and crampons, stealing rope, hoarding food, fabricating cooking equipment, acquiring alcohol fuel from the camp hospital and borrowing items from other prisoners. Also they had to gather information on possible lines of ascent which in their case included use of a label depicting Mount Kenya from a tin of meat and vegetable rations as well as details copied from publications in camp.
Felice Benuzzi has written the book with a blend of humour and humility, but it is a tale of earnest endeavour and considerable courage. Climbing involved advances and retreats, including being driven back by a blizzard on Bation, and hunger and illness added to the difficulties and dangers - but the men persevered. Tension is interminable throughout the valiant venture, and this factual tale is as exciting as any far fetched fictional adventure. The intrepid trio of prisoners of war aimed high, they played their game - they escaped from the drudgery of incarceration. Mount Kenya' main summit may have beyond them, but they bagged the subsidiary summit of Point Lenana at over 16,000 feet - a truly remarkable achievement exemplifying escapism at the heart of mountaineering. In climbers' language, `epic' is an appropriate epithet for the audacious attempt by Benuzzi and his companions on Africa's second highest peak - `No Picnic on Mount Kenya' makes an exhilarating and illuminating story - it is heroic mountain adventure.
Literally an escape to the mountains. Brilliant! May 21, 2006
L. Weeks (Hertfordshire, UK)
My first copy of this book is a 1955 paperback (2/6d net!). I've read it so many times that it's nearly fallen apart. This will appeal to mountaineers, those who like stories about the war and those who just like a really good adventure tale. And it's all true! Planning an ascent from within the confines of a prisoner of war camp, three Italian soldiers, longing for their native Dolomites, see Mount Kenya as a way of lifting the boredom of being PoWs. Brilliantly written; it's funny, sad, exciting, beautifully descriptive and compulsive. To whoever is sitting on the screen rights - please do something about it!
Climbing Mount Kenya with home-made crampons September 16, 2005
Ian H. Robertson
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an enthralling book.
Benuzzi and his companions realised that escape to the nearest neutral country - Mozamabique - would be impractical, but despondent of prison camp life, they decided to escape anyway - but instead climb one of Africa's highest mountains.The story of how they made home-made climbing equipment under the noses of the prison guards is as exciting as the story of their daring climb itself. As well as the British and the hazards of the mountain, they also had elephants, leopards and rhinos to contend with. A tremendous tale of adventure and determination against all the odds. Highly recommended to anyone interested in either escape stories or mountaineering.
|
|
|
www.pcprotech.co.uk | |
