Description

‘The definitive back story of Mount Everest’ Stewart Weaver, co-author of Fallen Giants
‘Craig Storti has given us the Everest book that we’ve needed all along’ Scott Ellsworth, author of The World Beneath Their Feet
The seventy-one-year quest to find the world’s highest mountain.

The Hunt for Mount Everest is the seldom-told story of how the last remaining major prize in the history of exploration was identified, named and at last found. This is Everest, the prequel: a high-drama tale, filled with larger-than-life characters and quiet heroes, traverses the Alps, the Himalayas, Nepal and Tibet, the British Empire, the Anglo-Russian rivalry known as The Great Game, the disastrous First Afghan War, and the phenomenal Survey of India. Encountering spies, war, political intrigues, and hundreds of mules, camels, bullocks, yaks, and two zebrules, this account uncovers the fascinating saga leading up to the fateful day in late June of 1921, when two English climbers, George Mallory and Guy Bullock, became the first westerners – and almost certainly the first human beings – to set foot on Mount Everest.

Publisher Review

Tense and detailed ... A lively and useful addition to the shelves of Everestiana -- John Keay A rich and fascinating book that tells the story of Everest in glimpses from unexpected angles, revealing one face then another, discovering surprising new routes through well-trodden terrain. Getting to the top isn't the point - the point is the mountain itself -- Nick Hunt A very readable and entertaining account of the earliest days of Everest, with a cast of great characters and driving narrative which reaches a terrific climax in 1921 -- Mick Conefrey A compelling account of the essential back story to the epic 20th century attempt by British mountaineering expeditions to ascend the world's highest mountain ... This is great mountaineering history -- Maurice Isserman * co-author of Fallen Giants * To climb the world's highest mountain was one thing; to find it quite another. In this compelling new contribution to the cultural history of mountaineering, Storti composes the definitive back story of Mount Everest -- Stewart Weaver * co-author of Fallen Giants * Craig Storti has given us the Everest book that we've needed all along ... The Hunt for Mount Everest is the necessary, and admirably written, historical prelude to the great age of Himalayan mountaineering -- Scott Ellsworth An entertaining and enlightening account of how the British identified the highest mountain, ensured that it was their preserve, and made the first attempt to climb it. -- Peter Gillman