Last of His Kind

“Stunning and stirring.” —Boston Globe   In The Last of His Kind, renowned adventure writer David Roberts gives readers a spellbinding history of mountain climbing in the twentieth century as told through the biography of Brad Washburn, legendary mountaineering pioneer and photographer. Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air, has praised David Roberts, saying, “Nobody alive writes better about mountaineering”—and nowhere is that truth more evident than in this breathtaking account of the life and exploits of America’s greatest mountain climber. This meticulously researched narrative chronicles the larger-than-life story of a true American original: Pioneering First Ascents: Follow Washburn’s audacious climbs of North America’s highest unclimbed peaks, from the sheer faces of the Alps to the unmapped wilderness of Alaska and the Yukon. Against the Odds: Experience the harrowing 1937 expedition that left Washburn and his partner marooned, leading to a desperate fight for survival against a flooding glacial river. Revolutionizing Exploration: Learn how Washburn’s visionary use of aerial photography, ski-planes, and airdrops forever changed the art of mountaineering in the great ranges. The Man Behind the Legend: Discover the driven, complex man behind the larger-than-life persona—from his early days as a boy adventurer to his four-decade career transforming Boston’s Museum of Science.