HUNT FOR MOUNT EVEREST

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. The story 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, and Everest 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. 2021 brought the 100th anniversary of that year, and this special book tells the seldom-told story of all that happened before. "The definitive book on Mt. Everest's discovery, naming, and earliest climbing history. Superlative research and captivating reading! A colourfully cast 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. 8 pages of photos, 320 pages.