Dead Mountain
Books | History / Russia / General
4.2
(239)
Donnie Eichar
The New York Times and Wall Street Journal Nonfiction Bestseller that explores the gripping Dyatlov Pass incident that took the lives of nine young Russian hikers in 1959.What happened that night on Dead Mountain?In February 1959, a group of nine experienced hikers in the Russian Ural Mountains died mysteriously on an elevation known as Dead Mountain. Eerie aspects of the mountain climbing incident—unexplained violent injuries, signs that they cut open and fled the tent without proper clothing or shoes, a strange final photograph taken by one of the hikers, and elevated levels of radiation found on some of their clothes—have led to decades of speculation over the true stories and what really happened.Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident delves into the untold story through unprecedented access to the hikers' own journals and photographs, rarely seen government records, dozens of interviews, and author Donnie Eichar's retracing of the hikers' fateful journey in the Russian winter.An instant historical nonfiction bestseller upon its release, this is the dramatic real story of what happened on Dead Mountain.GRIPPING AND BIZARRE: This is a fascinating portrait of young adventurers in the Soviet era, and a skillful interweaving of the hikers' narrative, the investigators' efforts, and the author's investigations. Library Journal hailed "the drama and poignancy of Eichar's solid depiction of this truly eerie and enduring mystery."FOR FANS OF UNSOLVED MYSTERIES: Unsolved true crimes and historical mysteries never cease to capture our imaginations. The Dyatlov Pass incident was little known outside of Russia until film producer and director Donnie Eichar brought the decades-old mystery to light in a book that reads like a mystery.FASCINATING VISUALS: This well-researched volume includes black-and-white photographs from the cameras that belonged to the hikers, which were recovered after their deaths, along with explanatory graphics breaking down some of the theories surrounding the mysterious incident.Perfect for:Fans of nonfiction history books and true crimeAnyone who enjoys real-life mountaineering and survival stories such as Into Thin Air, Buried in the Sky, The Moth and the Mountain, and Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the WorldReaders seeking Cold War narratives and true stories from the Soviet era
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More Details:
Author
Donnie Eichar
Pages
288
Publisher
Chronicle Books
Published Date
2013-10-22
ISBN
1452129568 9781452129563
Ratings
Google: 4
Community ReviewsSee all
"While the Dyatlov case is my absolute favorite, non-fiction books always read like textbooks to me. That does take some of the fun out of it. I did absolutely love all the photos that I am mostly certain I’d never seen before. The theory that the author presented is interesting, and completely plausible. I do wonder if we’ll ever truly know beyond a shadow of doubt."
"In 1959, during the Soviet Union, nine experienced hikers mysteriously disappeared in the Ural Mountains. When they are discovered, investigators are puzzled by the conditions of their bodies and their tent. What could have caused nine experienced hikers to flee from the safety and warmth of their tent into pitch darkness and subzero temperatures? I thought Eichar did a lot of excellent research, going to the site of the incident and speaking to a wide range of experts. I was initially baffled by the Dyatlov Incident because it sounded like the perfect setting for a horror book. However, as Eichar laid out all of the facts and theories and presented his conclusion (after talking to scientists from the NOAA), the answer was understandable. Both for why Soviet investigators were stumped and why the hikers would have made the terrible decision to leave their tent and the injuries they sustained. While we can never be sure what happened that fateful night on February 1st, I feel satisfied with Eichar’s research, dismissal of popular conspiracies, and conclusion. I also thought the last chapter detailing the hikers last night humanized them amid all the conspiracies and made me tear up a bit. The photos in the book and what is online will forever haunt me."
"I was actually pretty disappointed in this book. It spends entirely too much time talking about the author’s own trip to Russia to interview the family of those who died and the one surviving member of the group and find his own answers to what happened to the hikers. Unfortunately, he did this without an interpreter so he didn’t understand most of what anyone was telling him. He missed major points or emails because of poor translation. <br/><br/>This book was already pretty short and, with the number of images included, his narration of his own trip to Russia took up too many pages that could have been used to give us the plethora of details about the Dyatlov case that were left out. The theories on what could have possibly happened were glossed over at best. I may be wrong, but it felt like he left out details of the case because they may have conflicted with his own idea of what happened to the hikers based on what others have looked into. I’ve listened to several podcast episodes on this topic and they all managed to give more information than this book did. <br/>This is a very interesting unsolved mystery that I feel that the author could have done so much more with, instead of detailing his travels and the feelings his family had towards him taking off to “investigate” this case."
"Interesting that the new X-Files series debuted while I was reading this book. This was an X-File for sure. The author narrated the book on Audible which I really liked because it made it so much personable and believable. As I listened I really expected that we would have no clue what actually happened to the hikers in 1959 but Donnies theory was very plausible and I believed it. I really enjoyed this book!"