As former editor of Alpinismus and author of more than twenty mountain books, Toni Hiebeler is a well-known authority on the mountains of the world. In Himalaya und Karakorum he presents us with an overview of the whole range, the geology, fauna and flora, peoples, personal experiences and especially the history of climbing. As in any such work which attempts to cover the whole of such a subject, there are certain errors which the reviewer spotted, particularly in the section with which he was most familiar, Nanda Devi. Yet the work seems generally accurate. It covers not only the regions most commonly visited by climbers but is particularly useful in describing the lesser-known parts; in fact, it would be hard to know where to turn elsewhere to find in one volume information for the less-explored areas. The maps which break all the range into eight main regions and 45 groups are very handy. The photographs, mostly by the author, are outstanding and beautifully reproduced. The work is also published in a French-language edition.ű