When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one ‘morning in May, 1942, to reveal the towering peaks for the first time, Felice Benuzzi is transfixed. The tedium of life in PO.W. Camp 354 is broken by the beginnings of a sudden idea - an outrageous, dangerous, brilliant scheme.

Few people would break out of a prisoner-of-war camp, trek for days across perilous terrain before climbing the north face of Mount Kenya with improvised equipment, meager rations, and a picture of the mountain on a tin of beef among their more accurate guides.

Fewer still would break back into the camp on their return.

But this is the remarkable true story of three such men. A classic of mountaineering lore, published in English for the first time in decades, No Picnic on Mount Kenya is a powerful testament to the human spirit of revolt and adventure in even the darkest of places.

“An extraordinary adventure written with a light, deft, humorous touch that makes it irresistibly readable. And it certainly shows that the British don’t have a monopoly on eccentricity”

MICHAEL PALIN

“A classic jailbreak yarn”

Economist

With additional material translated from the Italian by Howard Curtis

“The history of mountaineering can hardly present a parallel to this mad but thrilling escapade”

Saturday Review

“A most extraordinary prisoner-of-war and escape story”

New Yorker