Jon Halfway through. As has been pointed out, he writes well. Talks about how mountains became A Thing; how in 100 years or so they went from things that were largely ignored to things that lots of people were obsessed about. He's erudite and interesting; lots of diversions covering the Romantic Poets, social history, religion and plate tectonics, amongst many other things.
As a mountaineer himself, he'll occasionally chuck in some of his own experiences - rockfall in the Alps, whiteouts in the Cairngorms - so he knows of what he writes. It ends with a chapter on Mallory's ascent on Everest, which for me would be worth the price of admission in itself.
Buy it.
