This edition is only available in Italian.

"As I sat there cradling the man's head, his blood and brains sticking to my hands, I heard a voice – my own voice. It was asking me something. It was asking me how I had ended up in this situation, desperate and lost among people for whom tunnelling into a man's head and then standing back and watching him die was no big deal."

This book is a powerful and gripping exploration of freedom and what it means to live life on your own terms. Nick Bullok was a prison guard working in a maximum security prison among some of Britain's most notorious criminals. Trapped in a world of aggression and fear, he felt frustrated and alone. Then he discovered the mountains. Making up for lost time, Bullock soon became one of Britain's best climbers, learning his trade on the mountains of Scotland and Wales, and travelling from Pakistan to Peru in search of new routes and a new way of seeing the world – and ultimately, an escape from his inner life. With everyone telling him that no one ever leaves the service – the security, the stability, the steady job – Bullock focused his life on one goal: to walk free, unshackled, in a life of mountains.

Nick Bullock was born on Christmas Day 1965. After leaving school at 16 he worked in a variety of jobs before joining the Prison Service in 1997 and being posted as a prison guard at the maximum security Gartree Prison. He was introduced to climbing in 1992 while training as a PE instructor and his life changed dramatically. Dedicating all his spare time to climbing, Nick has quickly established himself as one of Britain’s leading climbers, repeating many of the UK’s most famous trad climbs. But it is in the high mountains where Nick has truly demonstrated his imagination and ability, achieving often significant climbs around the world, with partners such as Jules Cartwright, Al Powell, Kenton Cool and, more recently, Andy Houseman. In 2003 he left the Prison Service and has since devoted himself to climbing, writing and living a frugally. An accomplished writer, his work has appeared in Alpinist, Climb Magazine, Vertical, UKClimbing.com, The Alpine Club Journal, The American Alpine Journal and more. When not on expedition, Nick lives in Chamonix in the winter and in his van in North Wales in the summer. This is his first book.