What's New?Welcome to the official home of the book The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W. E. Bowman. I aim to update this site regularly, so please come back again soon and see how it evolves.
Last update: November 26th 2003
| Publishers | a list of editions of Rum Doodle in five languages |
| Reviews | reviews of the book since 1956 |
| Links | other sites of interest to the Rum Doodle fan |
| Biography | more information about WE Bowman |
| Works | other works by WE Bowman |
What's New?November 2003: 3 photos of Rumdoodle Peak and Rumddodle Hut in Antarctica added to the Links page - thanks Tim Labrum!
March 2003: BBC
Radio 4 to serialise Rum Doodle on 'Book at
Bedtime', in the week beginning March 10th, every evening at
10.45 pm. The reader will be Terry Wale, who read the very
successful Isis version last year. If you miss it, try the BBC
website at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/readingand_shortstories.shtml
October 2002: new Italian edition published by CDA & Vivalda
May 2002: new audio book and large print editions published by Isis publishing
14/3/02: 5 new pages added to this site!
March 2002: Rum Doodle republished in USA by Trafalgar Square Books
October 2001: The Ascent of Rum Doodle republished in the UK by Pimlico on October 4th 2001, with a new introduction by Bill Bryson.
Who wrote
Rum Doodle?WE (Bill) Bowman was born in 1911 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. He left school at the age of 16 and worked for much of his life as a draughtsman and civil engineer. During the war he served with the RAF in Egypt, working as a radar instructor. After the war he worked as a volunteer with IVSP (International Voluntary Service for Peace) in Duisburg, Germany. Soon after he became a pacifist and returned his RAF paybook to the government.
The Ascent of Rum Doodle was first published in 1956, not long after the first successful ascent of Everest. It quickly became a cult book in climbing circles, and the 1959 Australian Antarctic Expedition team named a small mountain near Mawson Base Mt Rumdoodle after the book.
Bill Bowman died on January 1st 1985.
Contact us. Email me (the author's son) at:
