Into the Silence by Wade Davis is a monumental work in terms of depth, detail and length! At the heart, it is the story of the three attempts to climb Mount Everest by British-led expeditions in 1921, 1922 and 1924. However, the backdrop to this is World War I and the effect it had on the men who took part. They had seen so much death, and many of them were still suffering both mentally and physically from that time. Conquering Everest was also driven by the influence of "Empire" ... despite all the evidence to the contrary, there was still a certain belief amongst the upper class that somehow, the British could still achieve anything they set their mind to - whether they had any experience of it or not. The teams of mountaineers were made up of a hotchpotch of experience and skilled climbers (like George Leigh Mallory) and total beginners, not necessarily in the best of health but who had the "gumpf" to have a go. Much of the first expedition was to try and map out the area and find a potential way to the summit. The next involved specific attempts to reach the top which failed miserably - primarily due to the belief that using oxygen was somehow ungentlemanly and "cheating". On this expedition, George Finch, an excellent climber, who had done the research and built devices to deliver oxygen at altitude and was pushing for its use, was pretty much ignored because he had not gone to the right school or university ... yes, the class system was very much alive (and still is to this day)! This attitude cost lives, just like the idiocy of the generals in the first world war who wasted so many sons, brothers, husbands and fathers through their incompetence and pig headedness. However, the experience of this trip led Mallory to also believe that without oxygen, the climb to the top of Everest would be impossible. In 1924, despite his misgivings, Mallory returned to Everest and on June 6th, he and Sandy Irvine - a 22-year-old Oxford scholar with little experience - set out from their camp at 23,000 feet to make an attempt to conquer the mighty mountain. They never returned. Mystery still surrounds the fact as to whether they made it to the top and met their end on the way back down, or whether they never reached their goal at all. There is so much in this book that it is hard to take all of it in. I found the first expedition particularly hard going as it detailed where everybody went pretty much every day, and I got lost amongst the place names (and indeed, all the people). However, as the book reached the last expedition, it was definitely more gripping. I felt anger, curiosity, excitement and sadness. Yes, there were heroics on show, but also stupidity and ignorance, and the disregard for the local population from many of those involved, without whom nobody would ever have succeeded, was shocking. It has left me understanding a bit of history I was only vaguely aware of, and for anyone interested in Mount Everest, this would be a must read, despite the heavy going at times ... but then, maybe that's in keeping with the challenge it is describing!
My STAR rating: THREE.
Length: 672 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.00
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download, ebook.
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