No Picnic on Mount Kenya

Wow! I thought the writing of this book was excellent, and the fact that is it a true story floors me. "We are prisoners, but let's break out and have an adventure up this mountain we can see from the prison camp." 

I liked this book. And it is on the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die List.

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be on the list:

What a wonderful story: Three Italian prisoners of war, held in Kenya by the British during World War II, decide to alleviate the doldrums of their captivity by climbing the mountain—Africa’s second highest—that looms over them. While it sounds like a plot concocted for a high-spirited film comedy, it is in fact entirely true, and Felice Benuzzi’s firsthand account of his wartime exploit is an amusing, gripping, and singular narrative.