As the British Empire spread accross the globe during the 19th century, another quieter conquest was going on much nearer to home: grdually the English were taking over the Alps. This text explores the story of the English love affair with the Alps, from its beginnings in the early Romantic movement, through the days of the 1850s and 1860s and the formation of the Alpine Club, to the inter-war years when the English assured the future prosperity of the alpine resorts by virtually inventing and then popularizing downhill-skiing.;Part history and part biography, the volume examines the artists, scientists, gentlemen-adventurers, invalids, and the aristocrats and eccentrics who all flocked to the Alps.