
The Hunt for Mount Everest (Hardback)
Craig Storti (author)- In stock
The height of Mt. Everest was first measured in 1850, but the closest any westerner got to Everest during the next 71 years, until 1921, was 40 miles. The Hunt for Mt. Everest tells the story of the 71-year quest to find the world's highest mountain. It's a tale of high drama, of larger-than-life characters-George Everest, Francis Younghusband, George Mallory, Lord Curzon, Edward Whymper-and a few quiet heroes: Alexander Kellas, the 13th Dalai Lama, Charles Bell.
A story that traverses the Alps, the Himalayas, Nepal and Tibet, the British Empire (especially British India and the Raj), the Anglo-Russian rivalry known as The Great Game, the disastrous First Afghan War, and the phenomenal Survey of India - it is far bigger than simply the tallest mountain in the world. Encountering spies, war, political intrigues, and hundreds of mules, camels, bullocks, yaks, and two zebrules, Craig Storti uncovers the fascinating and still largely overlooked saga of all that led up to that moment 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 Mt. Everest and thereby claimed the last remaining major prize in the history of exploration.
With 2021 bringing the 100th anniversary of that year, most Everest chronicles have dealt with the climbing history of the mountain, with all that happened after 1921. The Hunt for Mt. Everest is the seldom-told story of all that happened before.
Publisher: John Murray Press
ISBN: 9781529331530
Number of pages: 320
Weight: 540 g
Dimensions: 236 x 160 x 30 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
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
The definitive book on Mt. Everest's discovery, naming, and earliest climbing history. Superlative research and captivating reading! A colorfully-caste detective story about the Empire-building British surveyors, explorers, and mountaineers who adamantly believed this newly-crowned Third Pole must be conquered, absolutely without fail, by an Englishman. * Ed Webster, author of Snow In the Kingdom, My Storm Years on Everest *
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“A fitting account of Everest’s “discovery””
Craig Storti is a consultant and trainer in inter-cultural communications. This engrossing book deals with the discovery (by Westerners) of Mount Everest, tracking the efforts made to identify where it was and its... More
“The book that ends where all the other Everest books began.”
Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy,
While I wouldn't say I'm a hard-core Everest aficianado I have always been interested in stories about the mountain and the people who climb it. It probably begain...
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“Absolutely fascinating insight into an aspect of history I'd never even considered - finding the mountain before you can climb it!”
This fascinating book tells the story of the early days of the exploration of Everest. Whilst most books focus on the 1953 summit of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary & Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, or tales of subsequent... More
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