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Review
'Into the Silence is quite unlike any other mountaineering book. It not only spins a gripping Boy's Own yarn about the early British expeditions to Everest, but investigates how the carnage of the trenches bled into a desire for redemption at the top of the world ... There was never any danger of the author being under-prepared. Davis, a Canadian anthropologist and adventurer, spent 10 years researching this book, and it shows ... At its heart, Into the Silence is an elegy for a lost generation. Indeed, when Mallory and Irvine "vanished into a world known only to them" on June 8, 1924, the empire mourned more than two untimely deaths. A friend, Geoffrey Young, wrote that "in that final magnificent venture against the unknown, we are thrilled by the knightly purpose, by the evident joyousness of the attempt, as much as by the audacity and endurance. It is the burning spirit of chivalrous, youthful adventure, flaming at the close, higher than the highest summit of the known world ... The same could be said for Into the Silence: a magnificent, audacious venture" --The Sunday Times
`magnificent ... impressive ... a vivid account' --The Observer
`profoundly ambitious ... impressive ... its intentions are terrific' --Sunday Telegraph
`magnificent study aims to answer what drove Mallory to risk it all' --Sunday Times
"A meticulous recreation . . . The death in 1912 of Captain Scott and his companions in the Antarctic set a precedent of sacrifice for the generation of young British men who, a few years later, would hurl themselves into the maelstrom of the Great War. That Scott's expedition was, according to later accounts, doomed by incompetent leadership only makes its failure seem more prophetic. Now, in Wade Davis's magnificent new book, the remaining goal of imperial exploration is seen as an outcome of--and response to--the First World War. While Scott's expedition was, in some ways, an exercise in heroic futility, the conquest of Mount Everest could help to exorcise the massed ghosts of the dead." --The Observer
"A magnificent, audacious venture . . . Into the Silence is quite unlike any other mountaineering book. It not only spins a gripping Boy's Own yarn about the early British expeditions to Everest, but investigates how the carnage of the trenches bled into a desire for redemption at the top of the world. Many of those Himalayan explorers, including Mallory, had served in the corpse-ridden fields of northern France. Indeed, of the 26 men who climbed in the three expeditions, 20 had seen front-line action. Six had been severely wounded, two others hospitalized by disease at the front, and one treated for shell shock. All had seen dozens of friends and countrymen die. For these veterans, the author argues, death had lost its power . . . At its heart, Into the Silence is an elegy for a lost generation." --The Sunday Times
"profoundly ambitious ... impressive ... its intentions are terrific" --Sunday Telegraph
"Combining the pace of a thriller with a degree of detail as nuanced as any academic study, this is an atmospheric and exhilarating book" --Time Out
"[A] meticulous history . . . Culminating in detailed accounts of the ascents that astutely weigh events and controversies, this vital contribution to Everest literature should rivet readers." --Booklist
"The First World War, the worst calamity humanity has ever inflicted on itself, still reverberates in our lives. In its immediate aftermath, a few young men who had fought in it went looking for a healing challenge, and found it far from the Western Front. In recreating their astonishing adventure, Wade Davis has given us an elegant meditation on the courage to carry on." --George F. Will
"I was captivated. Wade Davis has penned an exceptional book on an extraordinary generation. They do not make them like that anymore. And there would always only ever be one Mallory. From the pathos of the trenches to the inevitable tragedies high on Everest this is a book deserving of awards. Monumental in its scope and conception it nevertheless remains hypnotically fascinating throughout. A wonderful story tinged with sadness." --Joe Simpson, author of Touching the Void
"Into the Silence is utterly fascinating, and grippingly well-written. With extraordinary skill Wade Davis manages to weave together such disparate strands as Queen Victoria's Indian Raj, the `Great Game' of intrigue against Russia, the horrors of the Somme, and Britain's obsession to conquer the world's highest peak, all linking to that terrible moment atop Everest when Mallory fell to his death. The mystery of whether he and Irving ever reached the summit remains tantalizingly unsolved." --Alistair Horne, author of The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916
"Into the Silence is a breathtaking triumph. An astonishing piece of research, it is also intensely moving, evoking the courage, chivalry, and sacrifice that drove Mallory and his companions through the war and to ever greater heights." --William Shawcross, author of The Queen Mother
"Wade Davis's mesmerizing telling of George Mallory's fabled story gives new and revealing weight to the significance of this post-war era and to his dazzlingly accomplished and courageous companions. Into the Silence succeeds not only because Davis's research is prodigious, but because every sentence has been struck with conviction, every image evoked with fierce reverence--for the heartbreaking twilight era, for the magnificent resilience of its survivors, for their mission, for Mallory, for his mountain. An epic worth of its epic." --Caroline Alexander, author of The Endurance and The War That Killed Achilles
"utterly compelling" --Literary Review
"Majestic" --Michael Palin
...brilliantly engrossing ... a superb book...an instant classic of mountaineering literature. --The Guardian
'Majestic' --Michael Palin
'A meticulous recreation.' --Geoff Dyer, The Observer
'A magnificent, audacious venture . . . Into the Silence is quite unlike any other mountaineering book...an elegy for a lost generation.' --Ed Caeser, The Sunday Times
'Profoundly ambitious ... impressive ... its intentions are terrific.' --Jan Morris, Sunday Telegraph
'Combining the pace of a thriller with a degree of detail as nuanced as any academic study...atmospheric and exhilarating' --Mark Elliot, Time Out
'This vital contribution to Everest literature should rivet readers.' --Gilbert Taylor, Booklist
'From the pathos of the trenches to the inevitable tragedies high on Everest this is a book deserving of awards.' --Joe Simpson, Author of 'Touching the Void'
'Monumental in its scope and conception it nevertheless remains hypnotically fascinating throughout. A wonderful story tinged with sadness.' --Joe Simpson, Author of 'Touching the Void'
'Into the Silence is utterly fascinating, and grippingly well-written.' --Alistair Horne, author of The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916
'A breathtaking triumph...intensely moving, evoking the courage, chivalry, and sacrifice that drove Mallory and his companions.' --William Shawcross, author of The Queen Mother
'mesmerizing...every sentence has been struck with conviction, every image evoked with fierce reverence...An epic worth of its epic.' --Caroline Alexander, author of The Endurance and The War That Killed Achilles
'utterly compelling'
--John Keay, Literary Review
"Majestic" --Michael Palin
"A meticulous recreation . . . The death in 1912 of Captain Scott and his companions in the Antarctic set a precedent of sacrifice for the generation of young British men who, a few years later, would hurl themselves into the maelstrom of the Great War. That Scott's expedition was, according to later accounts, doomed by incompetent leadership only makes its failure seem more prophetic. Now, in Wade Davis's magnificent new book, the remaining goal of imperial exploration is seen as an outcome of--and response to--the First World War. While Scott's expedition was, in some ways, an exercise in heroic futility, the conquest of Mount Everest could help to exorcise the massed ghosts of the dead." --Geoff Dyer, The Observer
"A magnificent, audacious venture . . . Into the Silence is quite unlike any other mountaineering book. It not only spins a gripping Boy's Own yarn about the early British expeditions to Everest, but investigates how the carnage of the trenches bled into a desire for redemption at the top of the world. Many of those Himalayan explorers, including Mallory, had served in the corpse-ridden fields of northern France. Indeed, of the 26 men who climbed in the three expeditions, 20 had seen front-line action. Six had been severely wounded, two others hospitalized by disease at the front, and one treated for shell shock. All had seen dozens of friends and countrymen die. For these veterans, the author argues, death had lost its power . . . At its heart, Into the Silence is an elegy for a lost generation." --Ed Caeser, The Times
"profoundly ambitious ... impressive ... its intentions are terrific" --Jan Morris, Sunday Telegraph
"Combining the pace of a thriller with a degree of detail as nuanced as any academic study, this is an atmospheric and exhilarating book" --Mark Elliot, Time Out
"[A] meticulous history . . . Culminating in detailed accounts of the ascents that astutely weigh events and controversies, this vital contribution to Everest literature should rivet readers." --Gilbert Taylor, Booklist
"The First World War, the worst calamity humanity has ever inflicted on itself, still reverberates in our lives. In its immediate aftermath, a few young men who had fought in it went looking for a healing challenge, and found it far from the Western Front. In recreating their astonishing adventure, Wade Davis has given us an elegant meditation on the courage to carry on." --George F. Will
"I was captivated. Wade Davis has penned an exceptional book on an extraordinary generation. They do not make them like that anymore. And there would always only ever be one Mallory. From the pathos of the trenches to the inevitable tragedies high on Everest this is a book deserving of awards. Monumental in its scope and conception it nevertheless remains hypnotically fascinating throughout. A wonderful story tinged with sadness." --Joe Simpson, author of Touching the Void
"utterly compelling"
--John Keay, Literary Review
`stunning book ... thoroughly researched and gracefully written'
--Christopher Silvester, Daily Express
`Davis has produced a magnificent, rigorously researched account of the expeditions' ----Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times
`Greenblatt's book is fluently written , and it provides readers with a clear introduction to the philosophy of Lucretius.' ----Stephen Greenblatt, BBC History Magazine
'Written with an extraordinary kind of address and a feel for its barbarity that is really hair raising...' --Andrew Motion
`Davis has produced a magnificent, rigorously researched account of the expeditions'
--Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times
`magnificent ... impressive ... a vivid account' --The Observer
`profoundly ambitious ... impressive ... its intentions are terrific' --Sunday Telegraph
`magnificent study aims to answer what drove Mallory to risk it all' --Sunday Times
"A meticulous recreation . . . The death in 1912 of Captain Scott and his companions in the Antarctic set a precedent of sacrifice for the generation of young British men who, a few years later, would hurl themselves into the maelstrom of the Great War. That Scott's expedition was, according to later accounts, doomed by incompetent leadership only makes its failure seem more prophetic. Now, in Wade Davis's magnificent new book, the remaining goal of imperial exploration is seen as an outcome of--and response to--the First World War. While Scott's expedition was, in some ways, an exercise in heroic futility, the conquest of Mount Everest could help to exorcise the massed ghosts of the dead." --The Observer
"A magnificent, audacious venture . . . Into the Silence is quite unlike any other mountaineering book. It not only spins a gripping Boy's Own yarn about the early British expeditions to Everest, but investigates how the carnage of the trenches bled into a desire for redemption at the top of the world. Many of those Himalayan explorers, including Mallory, had served in the corpse-ridden fields of northern France. Indeed, of the 26 men who climbed in the three expeditions, 20 had seen front-line action. Six had been severely wounded, two others hospitalized by disease at the front, and one treated for shell shock. All had seen dozens of friends and countrymen die. For these veterans, the author argues, death had lost its power . . . At its heart, Into the Silence is an elegy for a lost generation." --The Sunday Times
"profoundly ambitious ... impressive ... its intentions are terrific" --Sunday Telegraph
"Combining the pace of a thriller with a degree of detail as nuanced as any academic study, this is an atmospheric and exhilarating book" --Time Out
"[A] meticulous history . . . Culminating in detailed accounts of the ascents that astutely weigh events and controversies, this vital contribution to Everest literature should rivet readers." --Booklist
"The First World War, the worst calamity humanity has ever inflicted on itself, still reverberates in our lives. In its immediate aftermath, a few young men who had fought in it went looking for a healing challenge, and found it far from the Western Front. In recreating their astonishing adventure, Wade Davis has given us an elegant meditation on the courage to carry on." --George F. Will
"I was captivated. Wade Davis has penned an exceptional book on an extraordinary generation. They do not make them like that anymore. And there would always only ever be one Mallory. From the pathos of the trenches to the inevitable tragedies high on Everest this is a book deserving of awards. Monumental in its scope and conception it nevertheless remains hypnotically fascinating throughout. A wonderful story tinged with sadness." --Joe Simpson, author of Touching the Void
"Into the Silence is utterly fascinating, and grippingly well-written. With extraordinary skill Wade Davis manages to weave together such disparate strands as Queen Victoria's Indian Raj, the `Great Game' of intrigue against Russia, the horrors of the Somme, and Britain's obsession to conquer the world's highest peak, all linking to that terrible moment atop Everest when Mallory fell to his death. The mystery of whether he and Irving ever reached the summit remains tantalizingly unsolved." --Alistair Horne, author of The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916
"Into the Silence is a breathtaking triumph. An astonishing piece of research, it is also intensely moving, evoking the courage, chivalry, and sacrifice that drove Mallory and his companions through the war and to ever greater heights." --William Shawcross, author of The Queen Mother
"Wade Davis's mesmerizing telling of George Mallory's fabled story gives new and revealing weight to the significance of this post-war era and to his dazzlingly accomplished and courageous companions. Into the Silence succeeds not only because Davis's research is prodigious, but because every sentence has been struck with conviction, every image evoked with fierce reverence--for the heartbreaking twilight era, for the magnificent resilience of its survivors, for their mission, for Mallory, for his mountain. An epic worth of its epic." --Caroline Alexander, author of The Endurance and The War That Killed Achilles
"utterly compelling" --Literary Review
"Majestic" --Michael Palin
...brilliantly engrossing ... a superb book...an instant classic of mountaineering literature. --The Guardian
'Majestic' --Michael Palin
'A meticulous recreation.' --Geoff Dyer, The Observer
'A magnificent, audacious venture . . . Into the Silence is quite unlike any other mountaineering book...an elegy for a lost generation.' --Ed Caeser, The Sunday Times
'Profoundly ambitious ... impressive ... its intentions are terrific.' --Jan Morris, Sunday Telegraph
'Combining the pace of a thriller with a degree of detail as nuanced as any academic study...atmospheric and exhilarating' --Mark Elliot, Time Out
'This vital contribution to Everest literature should rivet readers.' --Gilbert Taylor, Booklist
'From the pathos of the trenches to the inevitable tragedies high on Everest this is a book deserving of awards.' --Joe Simpson, Author of 'Touching the Void'
'Monumental in its scope and conception it nevertheless remains hypnotically fascinating throughout. A wonderful story tinged with sadness.' --Joe Simpson, Author of 'Touching the Void'
'Into the Silence is utterly fascinating, and grippingly well-written.' --Alistair Horne, author of The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916
'A breathtaking triumph...intensely moving, evoking the courage, chivalry, and sacrifice that drove Mallory and his companions.' --William Shawcross, author of The Queen Mother
'mesmerizing...every sentence has been struck with conviction, every image evoked with fierce reverence...An epic worth of its epic.' --Caroline Alexander, author of The Endurance and The War That Killed Achilles
'utterly compelling'
--John Keay, Literary Review
"Majestic" --Michael Palin
"A meticulous recreation . . . The death in 1912 of Captain Scott and his companions in the Antarctic set a precedent of sacrifice for the generation of young British men who, a few years later, would hurl themselves into the maelstrom of the Great War. That Scott's expedition was, according to later accounts, doomed by incompetent leadership only makes its failure seem more prophetic. Now, in Wade Davis's magnificent new book, the remaining goal of imperial exploration is seen as an outcome of--and response to--the First World War. While Scott's expedition was, in some ways, an exercise in heroic futility, the conquest of Mount Everest could help to exorcise the massed ghosts of the dead." --Geoff Dyer, The Observer
"A magnificent, audacious venture . . . Into the Silence is quite unlike any other mountaineering book. It not only spins a gripping Boy's Own yarn about the early British expeditions to Everest, but investigates how the carnage of the trenches bled into a desire for redemption at the top of the world. Many of those Himalayan explorers, including Mallory, had served in the corpse-ridden fields of northern France. Indeed, of the 26 men who climbed in the three expeditions, 20 had seen front-line action. Six had been severely wounded, two others hospitalized by disease at the front, and one treated for shell shock. All had seen dozens of friends and countrymen die. For these veterans, the author argues, death had lost its power . . . At its heart, Into the Silence is an elegy for a lost generation." --Ed Caeser, The Times
"profoundly ambitious ... impressive ... its intentions are terrific" --Jan Morris, Sunday Telegraph
"Combining the pace of a thriller with a degree of detail as nuanced as any academic study, this is an atmospheric and exhilarating book" --Mark Elliot, Time Out
"[A] meticulous history . . . Culminating in detailed accounts of the ascents that astutely weigh events and controversies, this vital contribution to Everest literature should rivet readers." --Gilbert Taylor, Booklist
"The First World War, the worst calamity humanity has ever inflicted on itself, still reverberates in our lives. In its immediate aftermath, a few young men who had fought in it went looking for a healing challenge, and found it far from the Western Front. In recreating their astonishing adventure, Wade Davis has given us an elegant meditation on the courage to carry on." --George F. Will
"I was captivated. Wade Davis has penned an exceptional book on an extraordinary generation. They do not make them like that anymore. And there would always only ever be one Mallory. From the pathos of the trenches to the inevitable tragedies high on Everest this is a book deserving of awards. Monumental in its scope and conception it nevertheless remains hypnotically fascinating throughout. A wonderful story tinged with sadness." --Joe Simpson, author of Touching the Void
"utterly compelling"
--John Keay, Literary Review
`stunning book ... thoroughly researched and gracefully written'
--Christopher Silvester, Daily Express
`Davis has produced a magnificent, rigorously researched account of the expeditions' ----Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times
`Greenblatt's book is fluently written , and it provides readers with a clear introduction to the philosophy of Lucretius.' ----Stephen Greenblatt, BBC History Magazine
'Written with an extraordinary kind of address and a feel for its barbarity that is really hair raising...' --Andrew Motion
`Davis has produced a magnificent, rigorously researched account of the expeditions'
--Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times
Book Description
A monumental work of history, biography and adventure - the First World War, Mallory and Mount Everest
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A magnificent work which took the author over ten years to research and write. The sub-title is important. This is as much about the war experiences that shaped the men of the 1921-24 expeditions. Each one had been doctors, infantry or artillery officers in the worst of the Western Front battles. From that, they were determined, resourceful and infinitely brave. The war experiences were searing. Mallory wrote home from the front, "If hereafter, I say to a friend "Go to Hell", he will probably reply, "Well I don't mind much if I do. Haven't I perhaps been there"?
The central figure is Mallory, friend of Keynes, Graves and much of what was later the Bloomsbury set. An enigmatic figure, Davis captures the genius of the man. It is Mallory who reconnoitered and figured the route up the North Cole. Mallory who established the Camp systems. Mallory who confronted the Second Step. Any climber on Everest follows his footsteps.
Davis gives us a rich cast: Sikhdar, who calculated the exact height of Everest within 28' in 1854 from observations 120 miles away, using pen and paper; why we call it the Norton Couloir, why all parties when climbing from the North, use the East Rongbuk; Somervell, a doctor mentored by Treves, who coughed up his entire mucous membrane and worked as a hospital volunteer in India for 40 years; Finch, who pioneered Oxygen use, climbed higher that anyone at the time and was the reluctant step father of Peter; Odell who made the famous sighting and climbed to Camp VI twice in four days and slept at over 23,000' for twelve days.
The courage and determination of the men, using primitive equipment and improvising on camps and routes, is breathtaking. And contrasts with the Valley Boy insensitivity of the crew that found Mallory in 1999.
I found myself flipping to the contemporary photographs of the climbers, trying to reconcile their actions and feats with the faces looking at us from 90 years ago. This is an epic book.
The central figure is Mallory, friend of Keynes, Graves and much of what was later the Bloomsbury set. An enigmatic figure, Davis captures the genius of the man. It is Mallory who reconnoitered and figured the route up the North Cole. Mallory who established the Camp systems. Mallory who confronted the Second Step. Any climber on Everest follows his footsteps.
Davis gives us a rich cast: Sikhdar, who calculated the exact height of Everest within 28' in 1854 from observations 120 miles away, using pen and paper; why we call it the Norton Couloir, why all parties when climbing from the North, use the East Rongbuk; Somervell, a doctor mentored by Treves, who coughed up his entire mucous membrane and worked as a hospital volunteer in India for 40 years; Finch, who pioneered Oxygen use, climbed higher that anyone at the time and was the reluctant step father of Peter; Odell who made the famous sighting and climbed to Camp VI twice in four days and slept at over 23,000' for twelve days.
The courage and determination of the men, using primitive equipment and improvising on camps and routes, is breathtaking. And contrasts with the Valley Boy insensitivity of the crew that found Mallory in 1999.
I found myself flipping to the contemporary photographs of the climbers, trying to reconcile their actions and feats with the faces looking at us from 90 years ago. This is an epic book.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
There is no need to be a mountaineer to appreciate this account of the early attempts to scale Mount Everest. Wearing a Tweed jacket, making reluctant use of heavy oxygen canisters because he had seen their benefit in action, but lacking the nylon ropes, hi-tech crampons and other paraphernalia now available to reach the summit, George Mallory and his companion Andrew Irvine disappeared in 1924, leaving the tantalising question as to whether they had managed to reach the top.
This is less a biography of Mallory, more a study of the exploration in the context of the 1920s, in particular the grim legacy of the First World War, its horror and folly described here with particular harsh clarity: the British Establishment saw the conquest of Everest as an antidote to what Churchill called "a dissolution..weakening of bonds...decay of faith" plus climbers like Mallory diced with death quite casually having seen it close at hand so often but somehow survived the trenches.
The British Empire seemed to dominate the world, although the cracks were starting to show, so it was still possible for Curzon, Viceroy of India, to assert an Englishman's natural right to be first to the top of Everest! A skilful climber was forced out of one team because he had been a conscientious objector.
Since what is now known to be the easier route through Nepal was barred, the expeditions of 1921-24 approach through Tibet, encountering all the wild beauty and mystery of this unfamiliar culture, from the fields of wild clematis to the barren valley trails marked with stone shrines and inhabited by hermits whose self-denial seemed a waste of time to the mountaineers, although they appreciated in turn that the local people thought the same of their activities. Respectful of mountain deities and demons, the Tibetans even lacked a word for "summit".
With blow-by-blow day-to-day accounts, Wade Davis supplies often fascinating detail of the planning of the expeditions, problems over porters and pack animals, difficulties of surveying the mountains accurately to find a suitable route to the top, the relationships between the climbers - great camaraderie versus frequent friction-, the hardship and often foolhardy bravery of the ascents, the unappetising sound of the meagre rations of fried sardines and cocoa, agonies of frostbite, thirst, and having to turn back close to the summit rather than risk getting benighted on an exposed precipice and above all, the astonishing first sight of the high peaks when the unpredictable clouds and mists disappeared.
The author conveys a strong sense of what it must have felt like to climb: the grind, the exhilaration, the sudden unexpected accidents, the shock after surviving a fall, the exhaustion, the awareness of self-imposed folly, the total physical and mental collapse of some, for others the compulsion to press on.
I found it quite hard to follow the precise details of the routes with the various camps set up on the way, which is a pity as it destroys one's enjoyment of some key sections. I overcame this difficulty by looking up maps and cross-sections on Google Images, but it is a pity Wade Davis and his publisher did not agree to include these in the text, with appropriate photographs, or they could have developed a website to provide this useful information.
This book really brings home how much the early ascents were based on trial and error, and how commercial and political pressures added to a tendency to be over-ambitious, as climbers persisted in aiming for the summit with inadequate resources and preparation.
This is less a biography of Mallory, more a study of the exploration in the context of the 1920s, in particular the grim legacy of the First World War, its horror and folly described here with particular harsh clarity: the British Establishment saw the conquest of Everest as an antidote to what Churchill called "a dissolution..weakening of bonds...decay of faith" plus climbers like Mallory diced with death quite casually having seen it close at hand so often but somehow survived the trenches.
The British Empire seemed to dominate the world, although the cracks were starting to show, so it was still possible for Curzon, Viceroy of India, to assert an Englishman's natural right to be first to the top of Everest! A skilful climber was forced out of one team because he had been a conscientious objector.
Since what is now known to be the easier route through Nepal was barred, the expeditions of 1921-24 approach through Tibet, encountering all the wild beauty and mystery of this unfamiliar culture, from the fields of wild clematis to the barren valley trails marked with stone shrines and inhabited by hermits whose self-denial seemed a waste of time to the mountaineers, although they appreciated in turn that the local people thought the same of their activities. Respectful of mountain deities and demons, the Tibetans even lacked a word for "summit".
With blow-by-blow day-to-day accounts, Wade Davis supplies often fascinating detail of the planning of the expeditions, problems over porters and pack animals, difficulties of surveying the mountains accurately to find a suitable route to the top, the relationships between the climbers - great camaraderie versus frequent friction-, the hardship and often foolhardy bravery of the ascents, the unappetising sound of the meagre rations of fried sardines and cocoa, agonies of frostbite, thirst, and having to turn back close to the summit rather than risk getting benighted on an exposed precipice and above all, the astonishing first sight of the high peaks when the unpredictable clouds and mists disappeared.
The author conveys a strong sense of what it must have felt like to climb: the grind, the exhilaration, the sudden unexpected accidents, the shock after surviving a fall, the exhaustion, the awareness of self-imposed folly, the total physical and mental collapse of some, for others the compulsion to press on.
I found it quite hard to follow the precise details of the routes with the various camps set up on the way, which is a pity as it destroys one's enjoyment of some key sections. I overcame this difficulty by looking up maps and cross-sections on Google Images, but it is a pity Wade Davis and his publisher did not agree to include these in the text, with appropriate photographs, or they could have developed a website to provide this useful information.
This book really brings home how much the early ascents were based on trial and error, and how commercial and political pressures added to a tendency to be over-ambitious, as climbers persisted in aiming for the summit with inadequate resources and preparation.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I never wanted to finish this book, it was such a great read. A finer history of the attempted conquest of Everest, it will be hard to find. At much as I had wanted Mallory and Irvine to have succeed, the epilogue convinced me that they did not. Having said that nothing can detract from their incredible efforts and bravery, not only these two, but others in the party, displayed great courage. It is difficult to realize that that my walking equipment is superior to that worn but those who attempted this climb in the twenties. There was a time I felt that the bigotry of the Alpine club selection of climbers, or the exclusion of certain climbers was one of the reason why they failed, I was wrong. However, it for each reader to make their own judgment. For those who love the outdoors and mountains, this is a must read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent
Fascinating, extremely well written and well researched account of the first attempts to climb Everest. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jeremy Bevan
Compelling
Fascinating and unusual for its focus on historical and social context, as well as the climbing, this book gripped me. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Salamander
Everest the easy way!
I had hoped Father Christmas might oblige but he didn't, so I had to buy this book for myself and it couldn't have been easier! Read more
Published 3 months ago by P. J. Cline
Outstanding
I climb a lot in the English Lake District,and my mother bought me this for christmas as she had seen the first chapter called "Great Gable" and id just climbed it. Read more
Published 4 months ago by M England
magnificent literature for non-climbers and climbers
The outstanding literacy of Davis shines through and elevates the book to greatness.
First chapter on WWI is haunting and sets up the link between WWI and the Everest... Read more
First chapter on WWI is haunting and sets up the link between WWI and the Everest... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Davis admirer
Definitive work!
A comprehensive study of early exploration set in the context of the "Great War". Incredible insight into the waste, suffering, and incredible bravery of men from an innocent time. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. W. Nicol
A truly extraordinary book
This is without one of the most amazing and awe inspiring books I've read in a very long time. If you need something to put your life in perspective then this book is the one to... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Danny Penman
Mystery of Mallory
There is a fascination about Mallory and whether he actually reached the summit of Everest. This book, of course, has no definitive answer. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Michael S
a journey into madness
I am not a mountain climber but there is something about the subject which is fascinating. In an era when a large percentage of the population don't even know the world changing... Read more
Published 6 months ago by William Brandon
Into the Silence
Published reviews led me to purchase the book, as I have no interest in mountaineering. It is a marvellous work, starting with startling facts about the first world war. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. Guy Chappell
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