The Great Road Climbs series

With photography by Peter Drinkell

Rapha, 2008-2015, Thames & Hudson, 2019

The titles belie the content of these books, which are extensive studies of the great chains of mountains straddling the European landmass from the Atlantic Ocean to the Adriatic Sea. They include chapters on geology and geography, political and social history, culture, identity, folklore and language, cuisine and wine. Above all, they evoke the grandeur of terrain both well-known and remote. Subjective and far from comprehensive, they concentrate on the spirit of place. The four original titles were released as a series published by Rapha: …Of the Pyrenees appearing in 2008, …Of the Southern Alps in 2010, …Of the Northern Alps in 2012, and …Of the Dolomites and the Italian Alps in 2015. Some of the content of these books was republished as Great Cycling Climbs by Thames & Hudson, which appeared in 2019.

Buy The Great Road Climbs of the Dolomites and the Italian Alps direct from Rapha here

Buy Great Cycling Climbs direct from Thames and Hudson here, or find it on Hive to support independent booksellers here

…Of the Pyrenees, 2008

…Of the Southern Alps, 2010

…Of the Northern Alps, 2012

…Of the Dolomites and Italian Alps, 2015

Great Cycling Climbs, 2019