Reviews for The Everest mystery : Sandy Irvine, George Mallory, and the truth still buried on Everest
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
With more than 13,000 successful ascents of the 29,032-foot Everest since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s on May 29, 1953, it’s too easy to forget how herculean the task was for those early British expeditions, including in 1924, when climbers George Mallory and Andrew “Sandy” Irvine famously lost their lives after ascending at least 26,700 feet. The tantalizing mystery: Did they reach the summit? Reanimated by recent physical evidence of Irvine’s death, Summers, granddaughter of Irvine’s beloved sister, Evelyn, and Hemmleb, whose own 1999 Everest expedition found Mallory’s body on the mountain, lay out in utterly captivating detail the successes and failures that had preceded the 1924 expedition, backstories of each of the nine principal climbers, their team’s meticulous planning before assaying the summit, and, in particular, just how an otherwise callow 22-year-old Irvine—with his physical strength, unbounded resilience, steady courage, and genius for maintaining and repairing their precious equipment—managed to win over the team, especially the 37-year-old Mallory. Readers who have followed this expedition closely may be familiar with much of the story, but everyone will be riveted by the personalities, the constraints of their era, and the courage and ingenuity they ultimately brought to it, whether or not they succeeded.
Library Journal
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Summers (Fearless on Everest) and Hemmleb (Ghosts of Everest) offer a gripping exploration of the 1924 Mount Everest expedition in which Sandy Irvine and George Mallory lost their lives. The book opens with a strikingly personal connection: Summers is the great-nephew of Irvine, whose partial remains were discovered a century after he and Mallory vanished. At the heart of this narrative is the question of whether Irvine and Mallory reached the summit or whether they died during their ascent. Through letters and diary entries, Irvine emerges as a vivid presence—young, witty, and technically gifted. The authors vividly describe the world of early Everest expeditions, long before commercialization, when climbers were as much explorers and documentarians as athletes. The sheer logistics of the journey, from jungle marches to the use of dozens of porters, add texture and perspective. The book meticulously revisits every artifact, photograph, and theory, with impressive, if occasionally overwhelming, detail. Most compelling are the moments that return to the human story: two climbers glimpsed briefly in the clouds and the enduring pull of what remains unknown. VERDICT Recommended for those with an interest in exploration history, as well as those drawn to enduring historical mysteries.—Lee Gardner
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Filling in the blanks of a tragic Everest expedition. Historian Summers, author ofFearless on Everest: The Quest for Sandy Irvine (2000), and mountaineering historian Hemmleb know that climbing aficionados are aware of the 1924 disappearance of British climber George Mallory. The discovery of his body in 1999 made headlines, and stories rarely fail to mention that his partner, Sandy Irvine, also disappeared. Summers, Irvine’s grand-niece, takes up the subject again in her latest book. Becoming an elite mountaineer in Britain—perhaps the world leader in that sport at that time—required years of experience, and Irvine did not come close. Age 22 when chosen for the third attempt on Mount Everest, he overcame considerable opposition from older veterans through his enthusiasm, superb physical condition, and, perhaps most important, dazzling skill in designing and repairing equipment. After 1924, every Everest expedition kept an eye out for the two missing climbers’ remains. Irvine’s ice ax was discovered in 1933. There was no progress until 1960, when a Chinese climber discovered the body of a European but was killed before he could give more information. In 1999, a specialized expedition discovered Mallory, and, in 2024, aNational Geographic team found a detached foot with a sock labeled “A.C. Irvine.” Summers writes, “The remarkable discovery was the first piece of evidence that proved beyond doubt that Sandy Irvine’s remains are still on the mountain.” The authors assume more knowledge of climbing jargon and the geography of Everest than the average reader possesses, but they tell an arresting story. An expert update on mountaineering’s never-ending saga. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Publishers Weekly
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A 1924 attempt to summit Mt. Everest in which fabled mountaineers Sandy Irvine and George Mallory went missing continues to offer clues over a century later as to the fate of the explorers—and whether they reached the mountain’s peak. Historians Summers (Fearless on Everest) and Hemmleb (Ghosts of Everest) unpack a multilayered tale stretching across generations and involving strong personalities, conflicting interests, and grandiose ambitions. Thirty-seven-year-old Mallory, a veteran of previous Everest ascents, set out on June 6, 1924, with the expedition’s youngest member, 21-year-old Sandy Irvine, on his first Everest climb. They left their group at a lower camp, including Noel Odell, who, in a moment that continues to be debated, claimed on June 8 to glimpse two “tiny black spot” cresting Everest’s summit—which would have made Irvine and Mallory the first to do so. In revisiting these events, Summers, a great-niece of Irvine, brings “my knowledge of the family” to bear, while Hemmleb draws on his “nearly forty years of... involvement in the story,” including his participation in the 1999 expedition that discovered Mallory’s body. The authors lay out all the evidence in meticulous detail, which adds up to a fascinating history of Everest exploration itself, as they recount the exploits of subsequent expeditions that may or may not have spotted Irvine and Mallory’s remains. Everest obsessives will be thrilled. (Aug.)
