Book Review The Vast Unknown Americas First Ascent of Everest
Coburn, Broughton. The Vast Unknown: Americas First Ascent of Everest. Crown Publishing, New York, 2013. B/W photos, index, notes, further readings, map, 300 pages, 254 pages of text. ISBN 9780307887146, $26. It has now been 60 years since Edmund Hillary and Tenzig Norgay first climbed Mt. Everest via the South Col. It has now been 50 years since the first American set foot on the summit. In the ensuing years a near mountain of books have been written about Mt. Everest and it begs the question as to whether we really need another one. I would answer that with this being the 50 year anniversary of an American reaching the summit, the 50 year anniversary of the first ascent by the North Face and with the overall quality of the writing here the answer is YES. For Everest aficionados there may not be a lot new here. For someone new to the literature of climbing or just picking this book up because it looks interesting there is plenty of meat on the bone. We are introduced to ...