Stanfords Blog

The White Ladder: Triumph and Tragedy at the Dawn of Mountaineering by Daniel Light

In his book The White Ladder: Triumph and Tragedy at the Dawn of Mountaineering, Daniel Light uncovers the true story of the thrill-seekers, map-makers, soldiers, occultists, artists and porters who paved the way for modern mountaineering. Ahead of his event here at Stanfords, Covent Garden on Thursday 21st November, Daniel gives us a snippet of mountaineering history as he looks at some attempts at the Himalayan region.

-by Daniel Light

The American climber and explorer Fanny Bullock Workman arrived in Darjeeling in the dying days of the nineteenth century intent on leading an expedition into the heart of the Sikkim Himalaya. There, she and her husband Hunter hoped to reach record-breaking heights on some of the highest mountains on Earth.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey wins the Booker Prize 2024

Orbital by Samantha Harvey was last night, Tuesday, 12 November, named the winner of the Booker Prize 2024.

Orbital, which is Harvey’s fifth novel and sixth book, takes place over a single day in the life of six astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. During those 24 hours they observe 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets over their silent blue planet, spinning past continents and cycling past seasons, taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of oceans. This compact yet beautifully expansive novel invites us to observe Earth’s splendour, whilst reflecting on the individual and collective value of every human life.

We knew it was a great book as we’ve had it centre stage in our Map of the Month window since the beginning of the month.

Orbital is available now in paperback for £9.99

Author Talk: The Heat and the Fury by Peter Schwartzstein

It was a full house tonight at Stanfords as we hosted Peter Schwartzstein in conversation with Henrietta Hunter, talking about his new ground-breaking book The Heat and the Fury: On The Frontline of Climate Violence, the first on-the-ground exploration of climate change’s contribution to global conflict.

From the ravaged villages of Iraq, where ISIS has used drought as a recruiting tool and weapon of terror, to the pirate-ridden waters of Bangladesh – and drawing on more than a decade of reporting from dozens of countries – Schwartzstein writes about the unexpected ways in which climate change is feeding global unrest and conflict. Through the stories of the soldiers, farmers, spies and others affected around the world, he makes sense of a form of conflict that remains poorly understood, even as it devastates the lives of so many millions of people.

While researching this book, Schwartzstein was chased by kidnappers, detained by police and told, in no uncertain terms, that he was no longer welcome in certain countries. Yet, as he recounts, these personal brushes with violence are simply a hint of the conflict simmering in our warming world.

As Schwartztein’s unparalleled reporting shows, there’s nothing inevitable about climate violence. In fact, as he sets out, the same stresses that are pitching people against one another can even help bring them back together.

The Heat and the Fury: On The Frontline of Climate Violence is available now for £22

Author Talk: In the Footsteps of Smugglers by Georgina Howard

Last night we hosted a sold out talk with Georgina Howard who spoke about her new book In the Footsteps of Smugglers published by Bradt.

“It was the enigmatic mountain paths winding their way from one Basque village to the next along smugglers’ tracks and over humpback bridges that seduced us all…”

In 2022 Georgina Howard co-presented a programme on the Basque Pyrenees with Michael Portillo. This book is her travel memoir, ‘In the Footsteps of Smugglers’, about her life in a remote Basque hamlet of the Spanish Pyrenees. Twenty-five years ago, Georgina moved into an isolated barn in a tiny, close-knit community of Basque shepherds. Taking this eccentric British woman and single mother into the fold, her neighbours helped her raise her Basque/English daughter, Marion, transform her barn into an international walking and language company and introduce her deep into the enigmatic and little-known Basque mountain culture.

The story then follows Georgina’s footfall into the Spanish/French borderlands of the Pyrenees and the heart of the former Basque smuggling fraternity. She has guided people the world over along these smugglers’ trails and focused her research on the WW2 escape routes of the Comet Line that led Allied airmen out of occupied France in to Spain. Speaking Spanish, French and Basque, she has formed personal relationships with the last remaining members of this 1941 – 1944 resistance network – then mere children – and their stories of fear, courage and secrecy are documented in detail within the pages of her book. With the help of colourful vignettes and deep anthropological insight, ‘In the Footsteps of Smugglers’ digs deep behind the scenes into all things quintessentially Basque. It also offers a rhapsody in cultural identity as this cosmopolitan nomad, and single mother, finally turns to the Basque shepherds to find home.

In the Footsteps of Smugglers is available now for £10.99

Children’s Book of the Month: Illumipedia

Our Children’s Book of the Month for November is Illumipedia.

Discover animals, insects, dinosaurs and the ocean deeps with your three-colour lens as you explore the world and its natural phenomena like never before.

Bringing together content from five books in the iconic Illumi series, this new treasury spans the best of Nature, Oceans, Bugs and Dinosaurs – across six continents.

Map of the Month: National Geographic Heavens – Majesty of the Night Sky

Our Map of the Month is the National Geographic Heavens – Majesty of the Night Sky Map.

Winner of the British Cartographic Society’s 2024 Stanfords Award for Printed Mapping.

Across time and culture, humanity has gazed at the Heavens and marveled at the beauty and mystery each night provides. This poster was included in the special space issue of National Geographic Magazine. This chart of the stars is an all-new compilation using the latest NASA data on star locations, constellation boundaries, asterisms, and deep-sky objects.

Author Talk: The Good the Bad and the Gringo by Kae Bahar

Last week we hosted a wonderful launch event where we heard from writer and filmmaker Kae Bahar who introduced his fascinating novel The Good, The Bad and The Gringo, a captivating tale of a young Kurdish man growing up in Iraq, confused about his gender and Saddam’s cruel terror.

Finding Solace from Saddam’s terror in the world of Cinema.

Growing up as a Kurd in Saddam’s Iraq, Merywan feels he doesn’t belong to this twisted society, but finds inspiration and comfort in the magic world of cinema.

He secretly writes letters to his hero, Clint Eastwood, whom he calls Gringo, begging him to help him escape to America. As his plans are disrupted, Merywan is drawn deeper into a roller – coaster ride of savagery, passion, betrayal and heroism, which makes the movies he adores almost seem trivial by comparison.

Book of the Month: Brilliant Maps in the Wild

Our Book of the Month for November is Brilliant Maps in the Wild: A Nature Atlas edited by Mike Higgins, illustrated by Manuel Bortoletti.

From the publishers of Brilliant Maps, here is a cartographic journey through our planet’s weirdest and most wonderful phenomena.

Author Talk: History of Cities in Maps by Philip Parker

We were delighted to welcome Philip Parker back to Stanfords on Thursday to talk about his new book History of Cities in Maps.

From ancient civilizations to modern-day metropolises, maps have played a crucial role in urban progress.

Michael Palin: There and Back: Diaries 1999-2009

It’s always such an honour when Sir Michael Palin drops by to sign his books. The latest book by the former recipient of the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing, There and Back: Diaries 1999-2009, is the fourth volume of his bestselling diaries.