The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Everest: Marking the 50th Anniversary of the Ascent of Everest, 32 Firsthand Accounts of the Most Memorable Climbs

by Editor-Jon E. Lewis; Foreword-Doug Scott

Book Overview

The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Everest celebrates the spirit to mount the ultimate peak--"Because," as George Mallory famously summed up, "it is there." This new anthology encompasses the assaults on... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 078671171X
• ISBN13: 9780786711710
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Running Press Book Publishers
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful gift for the Everest climber wanna-be

This was a gift for someone who is enthralled with Everest, although he isn't finished with the book, he hasn't be able to put it down since it arrived! Very interesting stories, we both liked how there was a wide variety of successful climbed and failed attempts, including a sherpa's perspective!

Well-chosen, well-edited collection for Everest junkies

To mark the 50th anniversary of the first successful climb to the summit of Mount Everest, editor Lewis assembled thirty chapters written by literal Everest eyewitnesses. Not every writer whose account he includes climbed the mountain at all, let alone made it to the summit. The earliest chapter is set in 1913; the last, in 1999. The writers take us from early survey missions, during which Westerners ventured close enough to the then forbidden mountain to begin planning eventual assents, all the way to the intriguing moment when climbers on the verge of the 21st Century discovered and positively identified the remains of Everest pioneer George Leigh Mallory. In doing so, they solved one mystery - "What happened to Mallory?" - but didn't find answers to the greatest Everest riddle. Which continues to be: Did Mallory and his climbing partner, Sandy Irvine, actually reach the summit almost 20 years ahead of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay? The sheer variety of stories told in this book guarantees it a place in my library, instead of a trip to the local Good Will where books I read just once wind up. Some tales are tragic, some humorous, some enlightening (most notable in the latter category: Tenzing Norgay's account of his Everest summit in 1953, "The Dream Comes True"). I especially enjoyed the appendices at the book's end, which are anything else but dry. A well-chosen, well-edited collection that's sure to have "something new" to offer even a dedicated reader of Everest tales.