The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Everest: Marking the 50th Anniversary of the Ascent of Everest, 32 Firsthand Accounts of the Most Memorable Climbs (Mammoth Books)
It has been 50 years since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's first ascent of Mount Everest, in 1953, giving rise to (forgive the wordplay) numerous books on the subject. Gathered here are 30 firsthand accounts by some of the climbers. In an introduction, Lewis explains how the lofty peaks were formed around 50 million years ago and how, in 1856, the surveyor general of India calculated that Everest was more than 29,000 feet high. This anthology begins with J. B. L. Noel's expedition in 1913 and includes such climbs as those of C. K. Howard-Bury (1921), T. Howard Somervell (1922), Hugh Ruttledge (1933), H. W. Tilman (1938), Doug Scott and Dougal Haston (1975), Peter Habeler (1978), Reinhold Messner (1980), Rebecca Stephens (1993), Matt Dickinson (1996), and Bear Grylls (1998). This fifty-fourth volume in the Mammoth Book series offers breathtaking adventures that can be savored without any risks to homebound readers.George CohenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved