Customer Reviews

Everest: Summit of Achievement

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The RGS was one of the co-sponsors of the many UNsuccessful expeditions to Everest, which finally culminated in the successful climb. This book has many stunning photographs as well as essays by "greats" of the mountaineering scene. Most wonderful is that fresh perspectives are covered that you won't find written about in most classic mountaineering books, such as the first two chapters, which deal with photographing expeditions and with establishing the height of Everest [worthy of a book in and of itself]. The chapter on the Sherpas with lots of previously unseen photos also changes one's picture of Everest. A VERY VERY IMPORTANT book, with images that present a FRESH and sorely needed modern perspective. Most ironic, you will see that the great feat of Everest, coinciding with celebrating the queen's coronation, was in fact pulled off by peasants/farm workers [Hillary, the beekeeper, and Tenzing, the climber from a farming family] from two countries, both far afield from Great Britain. It wasn't until decades later that the first two British-born climbers summited Everest. This and many other details will entertain you, along with the fantastic photos.

This is a nice package. It deals almost exclusively with the attempts and first conquest of Everest. Those expecting a rehash of the '96 Krakauer story (Into Thin Air) won't find that here.

This book explores the early attempts and failures as well as the successful Hillary/Norgay summit. The pictures are mostly black and white, with a lot of historical/archival shots from early expeditions. There are plenty of breathtaking pictures of the mountain as well as interesting shots of mountaineers at their work.

The text gives a good account of the various early expeditions.

All in all a good book, whether or not one wants to page through via the photo captions or read the text to this coffee table sized exploration of Mt. Everest.

This book is for anyone who loves Mt Everest and the great mountains of the world. It has some of the best photos of the pioneers from early Everest expeditions. This is a great addition to any library.

Tremendous, top-quality throughout. Well-written history of the early Western surveys and exploration of Everest and the Himalayas. Hundreds upon hundreds of excellent photographs. Absolutely the best book on Everest I've ever seen.

I had a wonderful girlfriend once who introduced me to her passion about Everest. That passion rubbed off on me and now I am hooked on the stories from Everest. For me, this book was the perfect followup to Hillary's High Adventure. The pictures in this book brought it all home. They made it feel like the pictures were taken yesterday, save for the old equipment. With this being the 50th anniversary of Hillary's climb, this book had a large focus on that climb and rightfully so.
PS - I also was checking the book to see if she had made it up the mountain.