High Summits: 370 Famous Peak First Ascents and Other Significant Events in Mountaineering History. By Frederick L. Wolfe. Hugo House Publishers, 2013. 703 pages. Hardcover, $49.95. This massive history is organized by continent and chronology. The 370 first ascents in the title barely scratch the book’s surface: There are 2,000 climbing events chronicled here. A great reference, fascinating for its hundreds of miscellaneous facts.

Hanging On: A Life Inside British Climbing’s Golden Age. By Martin Boysen. Vertebrate Publishing (U.K.), 2014. 288 pages. Hardcover, £20. According to the publisher: “wry, laconic, and self-deprecating.” In other words: quintessentially British. Vertebrate has a great list of new titles and is keeping many classic books in print.

Training for the New Alpinism: A Manual for the Climber as Athlete. By Steve House and Scott Johnston. Patagonia Books, 2014. 464 pages. Paperback, $35. Not even House can do the Czech Direct on Denali in 60 hours right off the couch. Alpine success, he maintains, is 90 percent hard work, as specifically detailed in this book via training plans, photos, graphs, illustrations, and anecdotes. With cameo appearances from contemporary greats Ueli Steck, Mark Twight, and Voytek Kurtyka, among others. 

Climbing Stronger, Faster, Healthier: Beyond the Basics (Second Edition). By Michael A. Layton. Self-published, 2014. 708 pages. Paperback, $34.95. “This is not a ‘training for climbing’ or ‘how to’ book. This is a toolbox: a reference to add to your knowledge or springboard for further inquiry,” Layton writes. A gigantic toolbox filled with training, health, and other stuff, from “Post Isometric Relaxation” to “Being a Jerk About Your First Ascent.”

Tears of the Dawn. By Jules Lines. Shelterstone (U.K.), 2013. 288 pages. Hardcover, £20. Memoir of Britain’s “most accomplished free solo climber.” The winner of the prestigious Boardman Tasker Prize for 2014, a reliable indicator of excellence.

Reinhold Messner: My Life at the Limit. Interviewed by Thomas Hüetlin; translated by Tim Carruthers. Mountaineers Books, 2014. 256 pages. Paperback, $19.95. A book-length set of two interviews conducted in 2004 and 2014. At 70, with countless books behind him, Messner remains compelling. Bonus advice for writers: “You get more for chopping wood than you do for writing.”