The Story of Everest

by W.H. Murray

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Genres: Travel, Mountaineering, Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1953

About the author

William Hutchison Murray OBE was a Scottish mountaineer and writer, one of a group of active mountain climbers, mainly from Clydeside, before and just after World War II.

Reviews

[Duane Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murray was a Scottish mountaineer who was a member of the 1951 British reconnaissance team of Mt. Everest. In this volume, The Story of Everest, he chronicles the history of the British expeditions and attempts to climb the mountain from 1921 to 1951. All of these early expeditions ended in failure, some tragically, but they are compelling stories about brave men and heroic feats that have an almost magical feel to them. This book contains some rare pictures of the upper regions of the mountain from the 1924 expedition that ended with the mysterious deaths of climbers George Leigh Mallory and Andrew Irvine. The summit was finally achieved in 1953 by a British expedition when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay accomplished the feat.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warrants five stars for its application to the history of Himalayan mountaineering. Necessary to the shelf of people who collect physical books or "books read" about Chomolungma (known as Everest to westerners until recently). Good prose, good judgment, good early photos. If you like this book, look also for The Scottish Himalayan Expedition by the same author.

Makes an austere and old-fashioned complement to books about recent events in "Everest" expeditions like Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster. More so in the light of the 2014 Khumbu Icefall disaster that killed sixteen expedition workers.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the 1953 third reprint of this book by W H Murray. Well written and very interesting. I know nothing about mountaineering. I learnt what a col is and why it's more likely to get frost - bite "pari passu" when you are acclimatized. I learnt what the acclimatization process requires.
Great sketches of the reconnaissance expeditions with a limited number of awesome black and white photos of peaks and mountaineers. Team effort was acknowledged for getting two breathing human beings Hillary & Tenzing to the peak of Everest on the 29th May 1953. They carried oxygen cylinders on their backs. And why bother (at that time 15 people had lost their lives since the 1922 expedition). "it is indeed for striving and exploring and discovering that we are made"

[Katja · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across a copy of the third edition, hardcover 1953. It has an extra paragraph about the expedition of 1953 with the reach of the summit by Hillary and Tensing. Unfortunately this edition is not mentioned in GoodReads.
This book has a good overview of all the difficulties that have to be overcome to reach the summit of Everest. It is also clear that all the previous expeditions were necessary as building blocks to make ascent of the summit possible in 1953.

[Alexandra Makini · Rating 4 out of 5]

real-world mountain exploration of Peak XV:
evolving methods; experiences;
Northern reconnaissances from Darjeeling:
May-October 1921: Colonel Howard-Bury(Harold Raeburn, Dr. Kellas, George Leigh Mallory, G.H. Bullock)
March- 1922: General Charles G. Bruce (George Leigh Mallory, Captain George I. Finch, Dr. Howard Somervell, Major E.F. Norton, Dr. Wakefield; Major H.T. Morsehead) Metohkangmi and first assault (9 May; 16,800--27,300 ft; 9 June)
March- 1924:General Charles G. Bruce (George Leigh Mallory*, Andrew Irvine*, Dr. Howard Somervell, Major E.F. Norton,Bentley Beetham, J.de V.Hazard, N.E. Odell) oxygen; avalanche at the North Col; 7 sherpas*(29 April; --28,126 ft; 15 June)
March- 1933: Hugh Ruttlege(F.S. Smythe, Eric Shipton, Dr. Raymond Greene, Captain E. St. J. Birnie, C.G. Crawford, Wyn Harris, L.R. Wager, J.L. Longland, T.A. Brocklebank) Grenfell cloth, double-skin tents, reconnaissance by air (17 April; --28,???; end of June)
1934: Maurice Wilson*
June 1935-June 1936: 1 year permit, last northern attempt,