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Hodder wins record-breaking ex-Special Forces soldier's memoir
Hodder & Stoughton has won at auction the memoir of ex-Special Forces soldier and record-breaking mountaineer Nims Purja MBE.
Publisher Rupert Lancaster acquired world English language rights in Beyond Possible: One Soldier, Fourteen Peaks — My Life In The Death Zone by Nirmal (‘Nims’) Purja from Rory Scarfe at the Blair Partnership.
Purja spent the past 16 years serving in the UK military: six in the elite Gurkhas and 10 in the secretive world of the UK’s Special Forces. He is also an extraordinary mountaineer who, after retiring from the Special Forces, performed a record-breaking conquest of all 14 of the world’s 8,000m "Death Zone" peaks in under seven months (the previous record was nearly eight years).
His photograph of a ‘traffic jam’ of climbers high up on Mount Everest, taken in May 2019 from below the summit ridge, is also well known, appearing in newspapers around the world including the Times, the New York Times and the Washington Post, resulting in further restrictions as to the number of climbers allowed on Everest from the Nepali government.
According to Hodder, in Beyond Possible, the author will tell his story, "from how his tough Nepali upbringing and the lessons learned in his army life enabled his never-give in mindset, to the gritty stories from the mountainside on the journey that most people wouldn’t dare to dream was possible".
It will publish in hardback, trade paperback, e-book and audiobook on the 17th September 2020, accompanied by a "massive international" publicity and marketing campaign.
Purja said: "My comfort zone begins where most individuals quit. I want to establish a paradigm shift in the perception of human potential. My book will show everyone what happens when ambition meets limitless imagination. Beyond Possible is my gift to everyone who believes in doing the impossible – whatever kind of life they lead."
Lancaster commented: "Nims is an extraordinary, charismatic, inspirational human being. Everyone who reads this book will not only marvel at his exploits, but also want to challenge themselves to be the best they can be."
