by Wade Davis
First published 2011
Wade Davis reconstructs the British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s, focusing on the fateful climb of June 6, 1924, when George Mallory and Sandy Irvine disappeared near the summit. Davis draws on over a decade of archival research across Britain, Canada, and Europe, plus fieldwork in Nepal and Tibet. He places these climbing attempts within their broader historical moment, tracing how the expeditions grew from nineteenth-century imperial desires and became symbols of national renewal after World War I devastated a generation. The author reveals how Mallory and his contemporaries, shattered by trench warfare, sought redemption on the world's highest peak. Using newly accessible letters and diaries, Davis chronicles the climbers' battles against brutal weather and dangerous terrain. The book connects the Himalayan adventures to the larger story of how Britain's elite tried to restore meaning and honor after the war destroyed their old certainties.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, adventure
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-figures, redemption
Setting: Mount Everest, Britain, Canada, Europe, Nepal, Tibet
Period: 1920s
672 pages · Hardcover · Knopf