'This well-presented guide is a must for those of you that are enthusiastic long-distance walkers.' (Living France) 'The guide is light and compact. The layout is excellent, it is clear and easy to follow, and is up to the usual high standards of other Cicerone guides. ... Kev Reynolds is without doubt one of the best writers of walking and trekking guides in the world. In this guide [he] has transferred his experience into thoroughness, his style of writing makes for real clarity. This guide is good value for money and will, without doubt, become the standard guide in English for the Tour of Mont Blanc.' (Graham Boswell, The Leader) 'The TMB is one of the world's classic walks, providing in rather over 100 miles a spectacular circuit of this compact massif in which the lofty Mont Blanc, towering to almost 16,000 feet, stands majestic and serene among its 400 or so sister peaks, 40 glaciers and seven valleys. In 1977 Andrew Harper wrote the first English language guide to the route, one of Cicerone's earlier titles that eventually went into four editions. Harper died in 2001, but he had passed the mantle to Kev Reynolds a few months before, and in providing this worthy successor, Reynolds and the Cicerone team have taken full advantage of the advances in guidebook design and production over these 25 years. Harper's route description was only for the 'traditional', anti-clockwise and more popular direction, but the clockwise circuit certainly has its merits, not least the greater sense of isolation for most of the day, and whichever is chosen many will want to return again to walk the route 'the other way round'. Reynolds divides his book into these two main parts to provide equally well for both, so it is bulkier than Harper's, but as there is much complementary detail each will be worth reading en-route - removing the temptation to save weight by cutting out one part before setting off! Dividing them are chapters on the romantic story of the pioneering first ascent of Mont Blanc and its controversial aftermath, and some useful notes on the main places of interest. The Introduction covers the usual trip-planning questions including - as well as which way round - when to go, how to get there (very easy), gear, safety, waymarking (variable and the route has variants), maps (so you may need to use them, even if joining a led group) and a choice of style of accommodation (wide -from hotels through gites and dortoirs to camping, and refuges that vary from the almost luxurious to the eccentric and atmospheric). The Appendices include more accommodation details, useful addresses, well-focused bibliography and a French glossary, for this principal 'language of the TMB' in its three countries. The TMB is ideal for a two-week trip, allowing for a rest day, one or two minor detours hopefully planned!) and time in Chamonix. As no technical mountaineering is involved and there are less demanding route variants useful also in bad weather, it is well within the capacity of the long distance walker. Reynolds divides the anti-clockwise route itself into eleven sections starting from Les Houches near Chamonix, and ten clockwise, from Champex instead, to avoid encountering a steep and intimidating 4500 feet of ascent to the Brevent ridge on day one! Each section is illustrated with an elevation profile and a clear, uncluttered schematic map to show its main features and route variants, locating the huts, campsites, villages and towns, and transport options, so that alternatives to his sectioning can easily be planned. Many of the author's fine and well-printed photographs complement the text attractively.' (Paul Lawrence, Strider August 2003)
