H. W. Tilman has been called "arguably the best expedition writer and best explorer-mountaineer" of the 20th century. This collection of Tilman's seven mountain-travel books is bound in one book, covering the years 1919-1952, the omnibus including: Snow on the Equator, The Ascent of Nanda Devi, When Men and Mountains Meet, Everest 1938, Two Mountains and a River, China to Chitral and Nepal Himalaya. Tilman's belief was "any worthwhile expedition can be planned on the back of an envelope." He wrote fifteen mountaineering and sailing books. Tilman (on reaching the summit of Nanda Devi): "I believe we so far forgot ourselves as to shake hands on it." Tilman (after arduous and ultimately unsuccessful attempts on two peaks in Central Asia, and his arrest as a spy): "as I turned to go down into Chitral, tired, lousy, and bereft of my diaries, I felt that the year had at any rate been rich in instruction."