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Last Hours on Everest
On the 6th June 1924, mountaineers George Mallory and Sandy Irvine perished in their attempt to reach the summit of Everest.
Obsessed by uncovering what happened, in 1993 Graham Hoyland became the 15th Briton to climb Everest. His investigations led to the finding of Mallory's body; it will be his evidence that will recover Irvine's.
'Last Hours on Everest' meticulously reconstructs that fateful day. Combining his own expert insight with the clues they left behind. Graham Hoyland's at last answers the most intriguing of questions - did the two men actually reach the top of Everest?
Obsessed by uncovering what happened, in 1993 Graham Hoyland became the 15th Briton to climb Everest. His investigations led to the finding of Mallory's body; it will be his evidence that will recover Irvine's.
'Last Hours on Everest' meticulously reconstructs that fateful day. Combining his own expert insight with the clues they left behind. Graham Hoyland's at last answers the most intriguing of questions - did the two men actually reach the top of Everest?
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 23, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
July 13, 2016
A lot of people wonder whether George Mallory and climbing partner Andrew Irvine were the first people to summit Mount Everest. That question never really concerned me because I am with Sir Edmund Hillary when he said "If you climb a mountain for the first time and die on the descent, is it really a complete first ascent of the mountain? I am rather inclined to think personally that maybe it is quite important, the getting down, and the complete climb of a mountain is reaching the summit and getting safely to the bottom again." In any case the debate was renewed when George Mallory's body was finally found on Everest on May 1, 1999. This book is a combination of the author's personal recollections of his climbing experiences and his attempt to come to a definitive conclusion on the George Mallory debate. Despite an interesting look at many aspects of Mallory's climb a certain conclusion cannot be reached although the author lands on the side that he did not make it to the top. This view is is the generally supported by one of the experts the author consulted.
Even if he didn't make it to the top it was still an extraordinary feat based on the fact that the route had not been previously mapped, there were no fixed ropes in place, no Sherpa support or camps preset, and the clothing was only sufficient for a climb during the day in perfect weather. The Everest of today bears no resemblance to the one George Mallory knew.
Even if he didn't make it to the top it was still an extraordinary feat based on the fact that the route had not been previously mapped, there were no fixed ropes in place, no Sherpa support or camps preset, and the clothing was only sufficient for a climb during the day in perfect weather. The Everest of today bears no resemblance to the one George Mallory knew.
January 20, 2020
'It was a perfect morning for the attempt, with only a few clouds in the sky … The men lifted oxygen sets onto their backs, then they turned towards the mountain and stamped off into history.' Thus Graham Hoyland writes of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine's departure for their summit attempt on Everest.
They never returned but nobody is sure whether or not they attained their goal or whether they turned back short of the summit because of bad weather or tiredness. Graham Hoyland, himself an Everest summit man, the 15th Briton to achieve the feat in 1993, sets out to investigate. And investigate he did with a number of trips to the Himalayas in an effort to determine what actually happened and also to find Mallory's body and the camera, which if found may give some clues as to whether or not the pair summitted, that he carried with him on the fateful day.
Initially Hoyland felt that the duo had reached the summit but as he uncovered evidence on the mountain he finally changed his mind and decided that they did not do so. It pained him to come to this conclusion for Mallory was always one of his heroes and he wanted to believe that he did reach the top of the mountain. But he had to accept the facts as he knew them and the evidence that he had uncovered. Along the way he had one or two hair-raising moments on Everest and his determination to find the truth, as it were, also cost him dearly in his private life.
As well as reconstructing Mallory and Irvine's last actions on the mountain, he also gives details of the earlier attempts on Everest and of those that took part, with the start of it all being a reconnaissance trip in 1921 and then the first official attempt on the summit in 1922. And on that 1922 expedition, George Mallory, by then a committed climber, had his first taste of Everest, so by the time of the 1924 expedition he was a seasoned Himalayan mountaineer.
But it did not save him from dying on Everest and the conflicting reports of his being sighted on the mountain on the morning of the summit attempt only serve to confuse the issue of whether he made it to the top or not. However, an ice axe was discovered on the 1933 Everest expedition and this was thought to have belonged to one or the other of the two men who were then missing. Hoyland would have liked to believe it to be Mallory's axe but the labelling still present on it seemed to indicate that it was more likely Irvine's axe. But the location of the find did give some clues as to what might have happened and various scenarios were put forward. Armed with the location of the axe, in 1998 Hoyland initiated a Mallory search expedition and in 1999 his body was finally discovered.
The history of attempts on Everest subsequent to the 1924 disaster is analysed and Hoyland comes up with an interesting theory that the ascent is so sophisticated now and has been attempted - and climbed - by so many that the trip has become, as he calls it, a trade route. And with fixed ropes and ladders along the way it seems that almost anyone with any money and time to spare can join a party to climb the mountain. This saddens Hoyland, for from the beginning of his mountaineering career he regarded climbing Everest as 'the holy grail'.
After all his Everest exertions, and he said that it had been a big part of his life for such a long time, he purchased a boat and enjoyed himself along with his new girlfriend sailing the seven seas! Anyway for posterity he has committed his thoughts and experiences to an absorbing account of the Everest story and in particular the search for Mallory and Irvine.
They never returned but nobody is sure whether or not they attained their goal or whether they turned back short of the summit because of bad weather or tiredness. Graham Hoyland, himself an Everest summit man, the 15th Briton to achieve the feat in 1993, sets out to investigate. And investigate he did with a number of trips to the Himalayas in an effort to determine what actually happened and also to find Mallory's body and the camera, which if found may give some clues as to whether or not the pair summitted, that he carried with him on the fateful day.
Initially Hoyland felt that the duo had reached the summit but as he uncovered evidence on the mountain he finally changed his mind and decided that they did not do so. It pained him to come to this conclusion for Mallory was always one of his heroes and he wanted to believe that he did reach the top of the mountain. But he had to accept the facts as he knew them and the evidence that he had uncovered. Along the way he had one or two hair-raising moments on Everest and his determination to find the truth, as it were, also cost him dearly in his private life.
As well as reconstructing Mallory and Irvine's last actions on the mountain, he also gives details of the earlier attempts on Everest and of those that took part, with the start of it all being a reconnaissance trip in 1921 and then the first official attempt on the summit in 1922. And on that 1922 expedition, George Mallory, by then a committed climber, had his first taste of Everest, so by the time of the 1924 expedition he was a seasoned Himalayan mountaineer.
But it did not save him from dying on Everest and the conflicting reports of his being sighted on the mountain on the morning of the summit attempt only serve to confuse the issue of whether he made it to the top or not. However, an ice axe was discovered on the 1933 Everest expedition and this was thought to have belonged to one or the other of the two men who were then missing. Hoyland would have liked to believe it to be Mallory's axe but the labelling still present on it seemed to indicate that it was more likely Irvine's axe. But the location of the find did give some clues as to what might have happened and various scenarios were put forward. Armed with the location of the axe, in 1998 Hoyland initiated a Mallory search expedition and in 1999 his body was finally discovered.
The history of attempts on Everest subsequent to the 1924 disaster is analysed and Hoyland comes up with an interesting theory that the ascent is so sophisticated now and has been attempted - and climbed - by so many that the trip has become, as he calls it, a trade route. And with fixed ropes and ladders along the way it seems that almost anyone with any money and time to spare can join a party to climb the mountain. This saddens Hoyland, for from the beginning of his mountaineering career he regarded climbing Everest as 'the holy grail'.
After all his Everest exertions, and he said that it had been a big part of his life for such a long time, he purchased a boat and enjoyed himself along with his new girlfriend sailing the seven seas! Anyway for posterity he has committed his thoughts and experiences to an absorbing account of the Everest story and in particular the search for Mallory and Irvine.
May 3, 2014
Interesting book. The author is a cousin to Howard Somervell who was on the expedition to Everest when Mallory disappeared. He was 13 when he met Howard Somervell and Somervell mentioned that he had loaned his camera to Mallory on his attempt at the summit in 1924. He remarked that if his camera was ever recovered, there would be proof that Mallory had reached the summit if there was a picture on the camera. Graham Hoyland comes from a family with climbing background and interests. He becomes obsessed with the idea of proving that Mallory reached the summit by finding Somervell's camera. He ends up working for the BBC and proposes the search for the bodies and the camera. There have been several sightings of a body that may be Mallory or Irvine over the years that Everest has been climbed and attempted. BBC takes him up on his suggestion, but he loses the project - they assign it to someone else. Mallory's body is found, but not the camera. Graham himself became the 19th Britisher to summit Everest and spent 21 years involved with the mountain in one way or another and continued to hunt for Somerell's camera. He looks at all the evidence that has been uncovered, the clothing the team wore to climb Everest in 1924, the attitudes at that time toward the mountain, the weather conditions, etc. to try to come up with a theory of what happened to Mallory and Irvine. Irvine's ice axe was found years ago in the 1930s, but there was no clue as to what happened. It was just lying in the snow, either lost in a fall or just dropped and abandoned.
He interweaves the tale in with the scientific research being done then and now and the conditions at the mountains for climbing then and now. He makes the whole thing quite interesting. I read it in just a few days and it's a sizable book. I loved his stories of the old expeditions, contrasting them with the now. I especially was interested in the fact he had a family stake in the expedition since Mallory had borrowed Somervell's camera and he was related to Somervell. He claims he is not as talented a climber as some of his relatives, but he works very hard at it.
A very good book.
He interweaves the tale in with the scientific research being done then and now and the conditions at the mountains for climbing then and now. He makes the whole thing quite interesting. I read it in just a few days and it's a sizable book. I loved his stories of the old expeditions, contrasting them with the now. I especially was interested in the fact he had a family stake in the expedition since Mallory had borrowed Somervell's camera and he was related to Somervell. He claims he is not as talented a climber as some of his relatives, but he works very hard at it.
A very good book.
March 28, 2024
It may be another book trying to resolve the 'did they, didn't they' mystery of the first ascent of Everest, but the deep research and detective approach interested me. The author's personal quest (he was the 15th Brit to summit) and family history is also weaved into the story. Some of the griping about others (in the story) got on my nerves after a bit, but the narrative held me till his conclusion, which was .......
October 21, 2018
Wasn't bad but wasn't good. There were interesting parts but I found it quite repetitive, long-winded and all over the place, which I guess is partly down to the fact that this book is mostly about an event that happened in 1924 that we don't know a lot about. I say mostly because while this is apparently 'the gripping story of Mallory and Irvine's fatal ascent' the author is also telling his story - we hear about his relationship with Everest, the BBC, divorce and other random stuff I didn't sign up for. I didn't know what to expect whenever I picked it up. It sat on my bedside table gathering dust for a while as I didn't feel compelled to pick it up.
The writing style didn't click with me and there was a lot more speculation than I was expecting from the book's description. Like I said there were parts I enjoyed, and although my review is harsh I wouldn't have finished this book if it was really bad. There was something about the author's knowledge of Everest and his passion for Mallory's story that kept me reading. Interesting to read a different perspective on the mountain. I think this book could've been improved by being shorter and more accurate marketing.
The writing style didn't click with me and there was a lot more speculation than I was expecting from the book's description. Like I said there were parts I enjoyed, and although my review is harsh I wouldn't have finished this book if it was really bad. There was something about the author's knowledge of Everest and his passion for Mallory's story that kept me reading. Interesting to read a different perspective on the mountain. I think this book could've been improved by being shorter and more accurate marketing.
April 17, 2020
This is a very interesting subject matter, and clearly of great personal interest to the author. However, I found the tittle-tattle, squabbling and finger-pointing surrounding the author's trip to discover Mallory's body very off-putting, and it really read like someone bitter about the experience and wanting to claim more of the 'glory' associated with finding the body. This soured my impression of the book.
April 22, 2015
Over the years much has been written about Mallory & Irvine on Mount Everest but what makes this an interesting read is that the author was the 15th Briton to reach the summit on a climb of Everest. He also initiates a Mallory search expedition in 1998.
August 22, 2020
No new insight about the “mystery” but that’s expected. The bits about Howard Somervell’s life stood out for me. He was for me the most fascinating personality on the mountain in the summer of '24 and that’s saying a lot.
June 4, 2014
Enjoyable and interesting, although a bit self indulgent about his own family and future plans at times.
July 7, 2020
I spent all this time to find out. . .well, it's still a whopping good yarn about mountaineering.
May 28, 2023
15% story of Mallory & Irvine's fatal ascent; 85% author airing his personal grievances.
Could have (should have) been a blog.
Could have (should have) been a blog.
July 25, 2014
On June 8, 1924, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine left their tiny tent on Mount Everest’s North Col and vanished into mountaineering history. Mallory’s body was discovered in 1999. Irvine’s body, which may bear the elusive camera proving the duo made it to the top, has never been found.
In "Last Hours" author Graham Hoyland ably blends history, botany, geology, biology and mystery into an engaging read while he closes on the $64K question: “What happened to George Mallory and Sandy Irvine? Were they the first to climb Everest?”
Meanwhile, you can almost hear the "chop of the ice axe,” feel the “crunch of crampons” and see “the hiss of breath” in this interesting, informative work. Readers also meet the personalities and details involved in early Everest expeditions, beginning in 1922. Along the way we encounter avalanches, clumsy oxygen packs, Sherpas, and the ever-present cold and frost bite that accompany climbs to the top of the world.
An accomplished mountaineer in his own right, Hoyland is also an Everest summiteer with an adroit sense of humor. Writing about Tibetan yaks, for instance, he says, “Their owners, who are Buddhists, are not supposed to slaughter them for meat, but it is amazing how many fatal accidents they have, and how tasty they are.”
Hoyland also explores the devastating effects of WWI on the elite British alpine climbing corps and the proper pronunciation of the name of the world’s highest mountain. I always thought it was “Eh-ver-est.” Not so, says the author. The Surveyor-General for whom the mountain is named, Sir George Everest, pronounced his name “Eev-rest.” As in Adam and Eve. (Why does that sound weird?)
“Last Hours” may be bit thick for non-climbers or outdoor neophytes, but it’s not insurmountable. The work is thorough and meticulously researched, with boatloads of quotations and citations from primary source material. Includes a chronology, index, and about a million end notes.
An interesting read.
In "Last Hours" author Graham Hoyland ably blends history, botany, geology, biology and mystery into an engaging read while he closes on the $64K question: “What happened to George Mallory and Sandy Irvine? Were they the first to climb Everest?”
Meanwhile, you can almost hear the "chop of the ice axe,” feel the “crunch of crampons” and see “the hiss of breath” in this interesting, informative work. Readers also meet the personalities and details involved in early Everest expeditions, beginning in 1922. Along the way we encounter avalanches, clumsy oxygen packs, Sherpas, and the ever-present cold and frost bite that accompany climbs to the top of the world.
An accomplished mountaineer in his own right, Hoyland is also an Everest summiteer with an adroit sense of humor. Writing about Tibetan yaks, for instance, he says, “Their owners, who are Buddhists, are not supposed to slaughter them for meat, but it is amazing how many fatal accidents they have, and how tasty they are.”
Hoyland also explores the devastating effects of WWI on the elite British alpine climbing corps and the proper pronunciation of the name of the world’s highest mountain. I always thought it was “Eh-ver-est.” Not so, says the author. The Surveyor-General for whom the mountain is named, Sir George Everest, pronounced his name “Eev-rest.” As in Adam and Eve. (Why does that sound weird?)
“Last Hours” may be bit thick for non-climbers or outdoor neophytes, but it’s not insurmountable. The work is thorough and meticulously researched, with boatloads of quotations and citations from primary source material. Includes a chronology, index, and about a million end notes.
An interesting read.
January 28, 2018
Last hours on Everest
This book is certainly gripping and yes its full of twists and turns. I found the book really addictive. The author gives an amazing insight to Mallory an climbing everest! I'd recommend to others. Not like most true stories. The pictures at the end of the book are really good. One book I won't be deleting from my kindle. I can't wait to start reading Finding Mallory
This book is certainly gripping and yes its full of twists and turns. I found the book really addictive. The author gives an amazing insight to Mallory an climbing everest! I'd recommend to others. Not like most true stories. The pictures at the end of the book are really good. One book I won't be deleting from my kindle. I can't wait to start reading Finding Mallory
November 24, 2018
The Last Hours...
After years of research into Mallory and Irvine, this book has finally made me see sense and finally understand how and why Mallory and Irvine were not the first get to the summit of Everest. It's made feel defeated and so very disappointed, and sad that they have never found the missing camera from 1924. This book is well worth reading, and must be read by the thousands of people with the interest in Everest.
After years of research into Mallory and Irvine, this book has finally made me see sense and finally understand how and why Mallory and Irvine were not the first get to the summit of Everest. It's made feel defeated and so very disappointed, and sad that they have never found the missing camera from 1924. This book is well worth reading, and must be read by the thousands of people with the interest in Everest.
February 15, 2014
Really well written book on why people go to Everest and the trials of modern day climbers. Plus a very fair assessment of the 1924 expedition to Everest.
September 27, 2020
So good and informative!
July 30, 2020
Forensic approach to an enduring puzzle
September 13, 2017
The fate of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine on Mount Everest in 1924 is one of the deepest and lingering mysteries of mountaineering in the 20th century.
Hoyland, who comes from a mountaineering family and has a distant association with Dr. T. Howard Somervell who was on the 1924 British expedition, has a long-standing personal interest in the fate of George Mallory. The idea of searching for Mallory and Irvine on Everest was one that he had presented to the BBC. While Hoyland was elbowed out of the expedition in 1999, it did successfully find the body of George Mallory.
Hoyland has done a good job of taking the available information, ranking it for reliability and analyzing its implication to try to reach conclusions about what happened to Mallory and Irvine and whether they reached the summit. His research included testing out a replica of Mallory's many-layered climbing clothes to see if they could have protected him adequately for a climb to the summit. Hoyland's conclusion was that they were were ingeniously designed and would have bee suitable for temperatures as low as -30 degrees.
Unfortunately, Mallory and Irvine were enveloped in a blizzard after they were last sighted. In addition, the days surrounding their summit attempt had extremely low barometric pressure, which as Hoyland lays out makes the issue of breathing in the Death Zone much harder.
Hoyland offers a unique perspective on a 93-year-old story.
Hoyland, who comes from a mountaineering family and has a distant association with Dr. T. Howard Somervell who was on the 1924 British expedition, has a long-standing personal interest in the fate of George Mallory. The idea of searching for Mallory and Irvine on Everest was one that he had presented to the BBC. While Hoyland was elbowed out of the expedition in 1999, it did successfully find the body of George Mallory.
Hoyland has done a good job of taking the available information, ranking it for reliability and analyzing its implication to try to reach conclusions about what happened to Mallory and Irvine and whether they reached the summit. His research included testing out a replica of Mallory's many-layered climbing clothes to see if they could have protected him adequately for a climb to the summit. Hoyland's conclusion was that they were were ingeniously designed and would have bee suitable for temperatures as low as -30 degrees.
Unfortunately, Mallory and Irvine were enveloped in a blizzard after they were last sighted. In addition, the days surrounding their summit attempt had extremely low barometric pressure, which as Hoyland lays out makes the issue of breathing in the Death Zone much harder.
Hoyland offers a unique perspective on a 93-year-old story.
February 28, 2021
I'm not really sure what I thought of this book, whilst it had strong elements it felt a tad... all over the place. Like the author would be talking about an element of climbing, segue into a similar situation at another time, then segue into something else before going back to the main point. At times I struggled to recall what that main point even was, so part of me wonders how secure the conclusions are. Then again, given the author concludes that Mallory and Irving didn't summit, there's no reason to use confusing logic when presenting the facts so, maybe the author is like me on certain reviews, long winded and rambling.
The parts of the book I found most interesting were the historical elements, about the two attempts Mallory et al made, then the tests the author did of the clothing with Brice. This led into a commentary about David Sharp and having just reread a book that focussed on Brice and Sharp, seeing the events from this perspective was interesting and actually backed up my opinion that Brice does a lot of thankless tasks.
As for the Irvine and Mallory mystery, whilst I can see why their disappearance intrigued so many people I've come very late to this area so it doesn't have the same interest. That said the potential depictions of their deaths were quite poignant, and whilst the author disparaged the idea of a Third Man, I hope they each felt that presence - whether or not the theory here actually happened - in their last moments.
The parts of the book I found most interesting were the historical elements, about the two attempts Mallory et al made, then the tests the author did of the clothing with Brice. This led into a commentary about David Sharp and having just reread a book that focussed on Brice and Sharp, seeing the events from this perspective was interesting and actually backed up my opinion that Brice does a lot of thankless tasks.
As for the Irvine and Mallory mystery, whilst I can see why their disappearance intrigued so many people I've come very late to this area so it doesn't have the same interest. That said the potential depictions of their deaths were quite poignant, and whilst the author disparaged the idea of a Third Man, I hope they each felt that presence - whether or not the theory here actually happened - in their last moments.
April 17, 2020
I found this a very frustrating and difficult read for many reasons. The writing style is all over the place with no coherent linear progression, but mostly its the apparent lip service paid to what the book subject matter pertains to be. The content about Mallory & Irvine's ascent is interesting and the theory speculation also holds the attention, but this amounts to about 15% or less of the books content. It’s really a book about the authors relationship with Everest, the mountain itself and his quest to discover it’s secrets and the resultant negative impact on his life.
Do I need to know how the author takes a bath on Everest or how he goes to the toilet by defecating into a plastic bag? No I don’t thanks, far too much information. To be frank this book really deserves one star, as it’s so far removed from it’s marketed title, but I’ll give the benefit of the doubt with two as it was interesting to read his thoughts about the 1924 expedition, which were my reasons for reading it. But be under no misapprehension, there’s a lot of laborious work needed to reach this material and it’s gone in the blink of an eye!
Do I need to know how the author takes a bath on Everest or how he goes to the toilet by defecating into a plastic bag? No I don’t thanks, far too much information. To be frank this book really deserves one star, as it’s so far removed from it’s marketed title, but I’ll give the benefit of the doubt with two as it was interesting to read his thoughts about the 1924 expedition, which were my reasons for reading it. But be under no misapprehension, there’s a lot of laborious work needed to reach this material and it’s gone in the blink of an eye!
January 14, 2019
I as usually enjoy books about mountains, this one is no different. The author has done really good research which is more impressive because he is also a climber. Somehow for me personally there is a lot of difference to read books about alpinists from writers who are purely writers, and the ones who actually climbed.
At times feels like he starts to tell a bit too much about his own personal things and waves away from the actual subject, but that said is always good to remember some facts on Mallory's biography, childhood and Everest itself.
I wouldn't mind seeing photos in the book like that and there was actually one or two but not much related to the subject again. The author talks about the media getting Mallory's body photo but it's not included here nor is any of other things that have been found and could help the reader to engage with given facts.
Not the best in the pile of tragic failures books but worth to read to those who are interested in mountaineering real-facts based documentary stories.
At times feels like he starts to tell a bit too much about his own personal things and waves away from the actual subject, but that said is always good to remember some facts on Mallory's biography, childhood and Everest itself.
I wouldn't mind seeing photos in the book like that and there was actually one or two but not much related to the subject again. The author talks about the media getting Mallory's body photo but it's not included here nor is any of other things that have been found and could help the reader to engage with given facts.
Not the best in the pile of tragic failures books but worth to read to those who are interested in mountaineering real-facts based documentary stories.
June 15, 2022
A flawed must-read for Everest aficionados. Certainly, Hoyland's relationship to someone who was on the 1924 expedition brings a perspective to his narrative that is not found in other places. His style is generally engaging and easy to read. It's fun to read about behind the scenes happenings (such as filming with Brian Blessed) and connect the dots with other published narratives about the same events.
Here are the flaws: chronologically, if you're not familiar with the timeline of events that have happened on Everest, it will be hard to follow.
Secondly. . .was there no editor? How did we get from a paragraph examining the state of Mallory's body to the very next paragraph about Hoyland's love life?
Finally--the offhand opinions the author would toss out--about colonial history, about relationships between male mountaineers and women. . .(no, really)--narcissism coming from inadequte mothering(seriously?)--painful distraction from the task at hand.
Here are the flaws: chronologically, if you're not familiar with the timeline of events that have happened on Everest, it will be hard to follow.
Secondly. . .was there no editor? How did we get from a paragraph examining the state of Mallory's body to the very next paragraph about Hoyland's love life?
Finally--the offhand opinions the author would toss out--about colonial history, about relationships between male mountaineers and women. . .(no, really)--narcissism coming from inadequte mothering(seriously?)--painful distraction from the task at hand.
March 4, 2022
At least half of this book went well for me. His research, opinions and history held my attention and his writing style suited the angle of the story. But gradually there seemed to come a shift in the perspective of his writing. As he moved apparently closer to having his idea for an expedition become a reality, the book seemed to become more about his sense of self-esteem and disappointment in the project itself. He researched a few minor areas that spoke to evidence on a small scale, such as how oxygen levels could vary according to altitude on the mountain, but instead of just referring to the result of the research, he spelled all of it out in the chapter. It seemed like too much detail to me. And finally his judgment of whether Mallory might have summited or not is lucid and well-laid out, but the story became less dynamic and more pedantic.
August 21, 2025
If you can only read one book on the Everest expedition [s] then this must surely be it. It is a delight . Compared to the trash I reviewed earlier , this is totally absorbing. It is not just a book about the expedition but is a labyrinth of twists and turns describing places , people and culure of this whole historical period. Its one of those books I don't want to finish but savour slowly. And being 10 GBP it is relativly inexpensive. I'm not interested in the ''mystery '' , I don't think there is any now . Look at Michael Tracy ; 2025 Evidence Round Up. He hits the nail on the head. Mallory fell at 1;27 am in the dark. Irving was bewildered and went to shelter and sleep [ as so many others have done.] I think its likely the Chinese threw his body of the mountain , having lived in China and having a Chinese wife who knows well CPC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XQw8...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XQw8...
April 9, 2024
Has a couple of decent chapters that thoroughly analyse whether Mallory and Irvine actually made it to the top but most of the book consisted of the author talking about himself and his dead uncle (or cousin? I skimmed these bits because it really didn't feel relevant). Personally I can't stand when people (incidentally almost always white men) claim that Mallory must have summitted because he had grit and determination and he was a great climber and he was hot; I am glad the author ultimately decided that yeah he probs didn't make it.
August 3, 2017
This book is brilliantly researched, probably one of the most interesting I have read about Everest. It blends the author's own memoirs of the mountain with its fascinating history and turns the plight of Mallory and Irvine into a detective "did they or didn't they" thriller. Very good read, very glad I found it (completely by accident). Good book about an epic mountain, a new take on an old subject.
October 17, 2017
For those familiar with the mountain and it's history, I think this book would be too much reiteration of the known and too much introspection by the author. As someone only casually familiar with the topic, I did indeed find it interesting, educational, and - at times - captivating. In truth though this book is far less about Mallory's last hours and far more about the author's obsession with him and his mysterious end.
January 4, 2021
This book was a thorough examination of Mallory’s 1924 attempt at Everest and events that lead up to it. It included interesting info - like the recreation (and testing) of Mallory’s clothing. It was a good follow-up to “Ghosts of Everest: The Search for Mallory and Irvine”. I did get the sense that the author was uber-obsessed with the mountain.
December 20, 2021
Could have used an editor with a much stronger hand. Purportedly about George Mallory’s last climb, which is hard to find buried in self-indulgent memoir’ish type stuff, placing the author at the center of a story which at first glance does not revolve around him. Would’ve better leaning one way or the other.
August 1, 2023
Author seems to be fixated with homosexuality. Also arrogant in his style of self glorification.
A lot of detective work for a seemingly understandable death of 2 pioneers who attempted the first ascent of Everest.
Much better books on mountaineering and Everest on the same subject matter available.
A lot of detective work for a seemingly understandable death of 2 pioneers who attempted the first ascent of Everest.
Much better books on mountaineering and Everest on the same subject matter available.
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