An English Literature don at Emmanuel College, Cambridge has beaten an exceptionally strong field to win the Guardian First Book Award.

Robert Macfarlane's book 'Mountains of the Mind' tells of his adventures of mountain climbing and analyses their cultural and scientific history as ideas in the human imagination. It is a cultural history of mountains, from 300 years ago when they were considered unfashionable and alien, to the present.

'Mountains of the Mind' emerged top of the strongest shortlist of any literary prize this year, and one of the strongest in the history of the Guardian Book Awards.

The jury for the Guardian First Book Prize includes Blake Morrison, Professor Steven Rose, broadcaster Sheena McDonald, and comedian Bill Bailey, and was chaired by Claire Armistead.

Armistead, the Guardian literary editor, said:

"Robert Macfarlane's book offers an exhilarating insight into the hold that mountains have on the modern imagination, encompassing geology, history, literature and his own experience of climbing.

"This brilliant young academic writes with authority, elegance and a passion that is capable of persuading even the most reluctant armchair adventurer to join him on his journey."

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