The Maverick Mountaineer: The Remarkable Life of George Ingle Finch: Climber, Scientist, Inventor by Robert Wainwright will feature on the Radio 2 Fact not Fiction Book Club on Friday 29 January.
The book was selected with the help of a panel made up of Reading Agency and library staff from across the UK. Find out more about the non-fiction strand of the Radio 2 Book Club.
You can win 10 copies of The Maverick Mountaineer for your reading group – just visit our Noticeboard.
We have an exclusive extract available for you to read as well as some discussion questions for your reading group.
The Maverick Mountaineer
In the spring of 1901 a teenager stood on top of a hill, gazed out in wonderment and the Australian landscape and decided he wanted to be a mountaineer. Two decades later, the same man stood in a blizzard beneath the summit of Mt Everest, within sight of his goal to be the first to stand on the roof of the world. George Finch, a boy from the bush, was at the highest point ever reached by a human being and only his decision to save the life of his stricken companion stopped him from reaching the summit.
About the author
Robert Wainwright has worked as a journalist for thirty years and is the author of nine books, including, most recently, Sheila: The Australian Ingénue who Bewitched British Society. He lives in London.
A word from Robert
“Wow! I was thrilled when my publisher emailed to tell me that I had been selected for the Radio 2 Book Club because it means that my research, writing and vision have been vindicated. It wonderful that The Reading Agency is involved as well as reading groups and, most importantly, public libraries.
As a writer with a journalistic background, I am always interested in revealing stories about amazing and complex people who have been lost in history. George Ingle Finch is such a story.”
Get involved
Tune in to the Radio 2 Arts Show on Friday 29 January to hear an interview with Robert Wainwright talking about his book.
Have you read The Maverick Mountaineer? You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter, or follow author Robert Wainwright
You can also post a review of the book or add it to your group’s reading list.
Want to find out more? Take a look at the Radio 2 Book Club Twitter feed or find out more on the Radio 2 Book Club website.
