Customer Reviews

An Eye at the Top of the World: The Terrifying Legacy of the Cold War's Most Daring C.I.A. Operation

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

An Eye At The Top Of The World has jointly received the first prize from the 2007 Kekoo Naoroji Memorial Himalayan Literature Award.

The Himalayan Club, based in New Delhi, awards the Kekoo Naoroji Award in association with Naoroji family and Godrej Industries for the best book on mountains of Himalaya published during a year.

JURY VERDICT:
"Well written with crisp authority on both scientific and mountaineering matters Peter Takeda`s AN EYE AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD is a survey of secret climbing expeditions to Uttarakhand in the 1960`s crafted with considerable skill. It combines in an expedition narrative the details of earlier clandestine climbs where American and Indian operatives placed and lost on Nanda Devi a nuclear powered spying device and replaced it with another (later recovered) on Nanda Kot. Radical in its concept, Takeda tracks down convincingly the planning and execution of this startling CIA operation, and has written a mountaineering thriller into the bargain. For years rumours have floated around the mountaineering fraternity and it is fascinating to have a good many of them confirmed though their sequence may have been mixed up. Despite being written for a lay American readership and from an American point of view, this a sensitive enquiry and the author`s feelings for the Nanda Devi region come across as both intimate and real. Bound to be controversial, the book`s sober tone guarantees its uncomfortable disclosures and their presumed fallout on the environment will find a lasting audience. The jury is unanimous in according joint first place to this compelling story."

This book is a rare breed--a story that blends the recounting of a gripping and alarmingly serious historical event with a fascinating 1st person story of personal discovery and adventure. For anyone from history buffs to armchair mountaineers to concerned citizens, this book has something to offer. If anything, I'm surprised that the book hasn't garnered more attention, especially considering that the environmental crisis that may result from the botched CIA mission in the 1960s could become a chillingly deadly and vicious situation for one of the world's most populous nations.

Read the book, you won't be disappointed!

I bought this book based on "mountain girl's" review. After reading the book I feel "mountain girl" must be Pete Takeda's publicist. This book based on an intriguing story is poorly crafted and disjointed. Pete Takeda's background as a magazine writer does not help him in penning an entire non-fiction manuscript. That being said the book does provide a little cold war history and the feelings of climbers on a Himalayan expedition. It also reveals the fears of being caught in an avalanche.

Quite disappointing. I was expecting a documentary about the CIA missions, instead it is a journal of a modern climb along the same route. Unfortunately, the story is poorly told: the characters could be compelling (they're real people!), but the writing just never develops them as the author just dumps detail on us leaving us with an impression of cardboard cutouts. The story could be compelling (high altitude climbing is tough and tricky), but again, the author choses the wrong details. Combine the poor telling with with poor fact checking by the editor (e.g., Padilla was not a dirty bomb maker, a fact known in 2005 whereas this book's copyright is 2006, etc) and numerous spell-checker induced spelling errors and low quality photo reproductions...

Apparently I wanted Spies in the Himalayas: Secret Missions and Perilous Climbs (Modern War Studies) by M.S. Kohli and Kenneth Conboy. Perhaps you do as well.

Sold as an indepth look behind the steel curtain of a top-secret CIA operation in the 1960's, this book had aspirations of being a exciting thriller about international espionage and extreme mountaineering. It fails miserably. Most of this heap of crap is about the author's poor health, the smoking habits of some Indian military officer, some unattractive broad and how she shouldn't have been on the trip in the first place. Throw in some content about as insightful and intriguing as the route the original expedition took, some speculation on what MIGHT happen should this device reach a major river in India, few days of bad weather, a case of the poops and you have An Eye at The Top of The World. AWFUL!! I got the sense several times that the autor was trying to " church it up ", meaning he was trying to hard to make it sounds like a deep, astute and highly intelligent study of his experience. The best part about this book is it's weight. It does a wonderful job at flattening out my cigar bands. Don't buy it, don't read it, don't give it as a gift, don't spit on it if it's on fire.

-Mark

This book has almost nothing to do with the CIA's involvement with Himalayan climbing the sixties, and is too much about the self-involved psyches of the participants. The author drones on about his own past substance abuse issues, his relationship with his father and his Christianity. We also learn that the other expedition members are similarly messed up. During the expedition, they become more messed up, and upon their return, they all go to a shrink.

As other reviewers noted, the book is filled with factual errors, misplaced and misspelled words. "Spies in the Himalaya" is a much better work if one is interested in the history of the Nanda Devi region, and the CIA funded expeditions.

Mountain Girl must be dating the author, or is the author!

Having just finished reading Pete Tekada's Eye on Top of the World book and feeling moved to write a review, I was surprised by some of the low review ratings. I know nothing of Pete nor am privy to any other climbing connections. I do enjoy some technical rock climbing. If you open the book thinking it is all about the CIA, then yes, you may be a tad disappointed. I sort of knew what I was getting into, as the book was recommended to me by a friend.

I found Tekada's writing to be intelligent enough for credibility, but often base and raw enough to reveal a likable personality. Add in some surprising word play visuals and even some poeticism and I was hooked. I also find so many books hit that 1/3 or 3/4 lag point (that part where they just seem to keep repeating themselves to fill pages) and it never happened in Tekada's book. I appreciated the honesty disclosed in all the characters, and at least for me, the story flowed just fine!

The only criticism I hold is that he should have retained a copy editor, for there were way too many (continuous throughout the book) edit errors that is were just overlooked. Yes, like that. Either he neglected to hire one or I need to know not to hire the one he used!

Overall an excellent high mountain experience read - - - with a twist.

Don't expect to learn much about the CIA operation reading this book. This is a poorly written book about Pete Takeda (the author) climbing the same mountain. Very boring and hard to follow, don't waste your time. This is not a book about the CIA mission!