Spy on the Roof of the World: A True Story of Espionage and Survival in the Himalayas - Softcover

Wignall, Sydney

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1585740691 ISBN 13: 9781585740697

Publisher: The Lyons Press, 2000

Synopsis

In this true story of espionage and survival in the Himalayas, Wignall tells of his 1955 expedition to climb Tibet's highest mountain and his mission to report on Chinese military operations in newly invaded Tibet. "Some top-notch adventure writing".--"Kirkus Reviews". Photos.

About this title

Review:

"There is, through the narrative, plenty of humour and old world charm...Read it and be stirred. That doesn't happen too often." (Mail on Sunday)

"an amazing story of an epic adventure" (Yorkshire Post)

"

... all the ingredients of a gripping spy story: a spectacular setting;
... a hero who frustrates his captors; ... an intrepid final dash for
home

" (Geographical Magazine)

"

A compelling tale of human endurance, both physical and mental, against
the worst that either nature or mankind could throw at them

" (The Good Book Guide)

From the Back Cover:

In 1955, Sydney Wignall organized the Welsh Himalayan expedition to climb Tibet's highest mountain, Gurla Mandhata. But Wignall and two of his companions were more than just mountaineers; before setting out, Wignall had been recruited by a covert faction within Indian intelligence to report on Chinese military operations in newly invaded Tibet.Wignall and his band of unlikely spies were soon captured and imprisoned by the Red Army, thus beginning an ordeal that would draw on their last reserves of physical and emotional strength. Subjected to rat-infested, subfreezing cells and months of torturous interrogation, Wignall and his colleagues refused to allow their spirits to be broken.Ultimately, international pressure convinced the Chinese to release the three spies. But instead of being flown safely home, they were ordered to return via the Seti Gorge in the middle of winter, a deadly Himalayan pass considered suicidal even in summer. Their bodies wracked with frostbite and dysentery, their final trek to freedom is an amazing testament to their will to survive. (6 X 9, 304 pages, b&w photos, maps)

About this edition

• Publisher: The Lyons Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1585740691
• ISBN 13: 9781585740697
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288