Continental Divide

Maurice Isserman is the author of Continental Divide and coauthor of Fallen Giants, a history of Himalayan mountaineering that won the prestigious Banff Prize for best mountaineering history in 2008, as well as that year’s National Outdoor Book Award. He is Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.

"Packed with fascinating details ... comprehensive and inviting." -- Wall Street Journal "Maurice Isserman is the hidden jewel of mountaineering historians. He brings a scholar's eye to the wonder and passion of the sport. Continental Divide is a sweeping chronicle of what America contributed to an adventure long dominated by the Swiss and the British, the French, Poles, Germans, Austrians, and Italians...This is a story of mountains as dreams, of land as destiny, of summits as the pinnacles of all human desire." -- Wade Davis, National Geographic "Explorer for the Millennium" and author of Into the Silence "Continental Divide represents over 300 years of American climbing history in one epic volume...Maurice Isserman takes us on this journey with equal amounts of meticulously researched facts and understated humor, critical historical context and heartbreaking human stories-all of which make for a fascinating read." -- Bernadette McDonald, author of Freedom Climbers and Brotherhood of the Rope "A thrilling and nuanced history that expands our view of exploration, revealing how mountain adventures have transformed America." -- Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Padoan, authors of Buried in the Sky