The Alps

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For centuries the Alps have seen the march of armies, the flow of pilgrims and Crusaders, the feats of mountaineers, and the dreams of engineers and some 14 million people live among their peaks today In The Alps, Stephen O Shea takes readers up and down these majestic mountains, battling his own fear of heights to journey through a 500 mile arc across France, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, and Slovenia.O Shea, whose style has been hailed for its engaging combination of candid first person travel writing and absorbing historical narrative Chicago Sun Times , whisks readers along than 2,000 years of Alpine history As he travels pass by pass through the mountains, he tells great stories of those real and imagined who have passed before him, from Hannibal to Hitler, Frankenstein s monster to Sherlock Holmes, Napoleon to Nietzsche, William Tell to James Bond He explores the circumstances behind Hannibal and his elephants famous crossing in 218 BCE he reveals how the Alps have profoundly influenced culture from Heidi to The Sound of Music and he visits iconic sites, including the Reichenbach Falls, where Arthur Conan Doyle staged Sherlock Holmes s death scene with Professor Moriarty Caporetto, the bloody site of the Italians retreat in World War I and the Eagle s Nest, Hitler s aerie of a vacation home.O Shea delves into Alpine myths and legends, such as the lopsided legs of the dahu, the fictitious goatlike creature of the mountains, and reveals why the beloved St Bernard dog is so often depicted with a cask hanging below its neck Throughout, he immerses himself in the communities he visits, engagingly recounting his adventures with contemporary road trippers, watchmakers, salt miners, cable car operators, and yodelers. Free Read The Alps By Stephen O'Shea For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr a really fun and easy read, a travel log as light history it made me want to visit every path and city he mentioned, to get a sense of each mountain it made me homesick for altitude3.5 starsStuck with it till the end, but this book never really grabbed me Loved the cover, concept of armchair traveling thru the Alps was appealing, but I just found my eyes glazing over many times Heidi museum was intrig...The subtitle to this book calls it A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi, but this is highly misleading as this is absolutely not a history book it s a travel book Not that there is anything wrong with travel books, but I would have appreciatedhistory and less boring description of the passing countryside and repeated descriptions of how frightened the author is of heights.I don t read a lot of travel writing, but I love the work of Bill Bryson Bryson is very funny and he is highly s The subtitle to this book calls it A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi, but this is highly misleading as this is absolutely not a history book it s a travel book Not that there is anything wrong with travel books, but I would have appreciatedhistory and less boring description of the passing countryside and repeated descriptions of how frightened the author is of heights.I don t read a lot of travel writing, but I love the work of Bill Bryson Bryson is very funny and he is highly skilled at f...Stephen O Shea writes an entertaining, witty travelogue through the Alps from west to east, stitching together destinations with literary, historical and geological references I found the cover scenery of a train exiting an alpine tunnel arresting, but O Shea spends his travels in a muscle car, not a train The romance of a train journey is traded for aintimate connection to the many passes the crisscross the alps and traverse the lard line between Italy and Northern Europe The Alps we Stephen O Shea writes an entertaining, witty travelogue through the Alps from west to east, stitching together destinations with literary, historical and geological references I found the cover scenery of a train exiting an alpine tunnel arresting, but O Shea spends his travels in a muscle car, not a train The romance of a train journey is traded for aintimate connection to the many passes the crisscros...Trip through the Alps by the peripatetic O Shea I find descriptions of mountains pale very quickly fortunately the author moves from one place to another very quickly and treats subjects the same way He finds something of interest ...Just like they say, a great armchair travel Filled with great historical stories and facts along the way it s a shame there s no shot in hell I ll be able to retain it all I will say the descriptions of the hairpin turns, while thrilling in the beginning, became somewhat o...A great combination of travelogue and history I love the Alps and have the same combination of awe and terror the author has So happy he articulated it and provided an absorbing history as wellAn amusing travelogue through the Alps, probably of interest mostly for those who love and or have visited the Alps I was surprised to realize how many of these towns and passes I have visited but then, I spent a college summer with Swiss relatives in the Alps O Shea covers several of our favorite spots like the wonderful Iceman Museum in Bolzano and the glorious Dolomites, as well as Slovenia with tidbits and passing remarks on the history and current situations in the beautiful towns and v An amusing travelogue through the Alps, probably of interest mostly for those who love and or have visited the Alps I was surprised to realize how many of these towns and passes ...A meandering trip through the history and geography and many, many hairpin turns of the Alps, from Switzerland to Slovenia, although we don t see much of Slovenia The pace changes partway through as the history gives wayandto the traveler s tale which wasinteresting to me.While I wouldn t hesitate to rec...

The Alps
  • English
  • 16 July 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 336 pages
  • 039324685X
  • Stephen O'Shea
  • The Alps