Climbing Mount Everest

CLIMBING MOUNT EVEREST. The Bibliography. Compiled by Audrey Salkeld and John Boyle. Pp. 120, 1993. (Sixways Publishing, Avon, nps).

Ever since its discovery as the highest mountain in the world, Everest has had more than its share of attempts from various routes, there have been epic ascents, tragedies and failures. All of these expeditions have translated into numerous books on the climbs, history etc. Audrey Salkeld and John Boyle have put together a list of all these books about Everest in what is surely the most exhaustive bibliography of books on climbing Everest. They have comprehensively classified these books alphabetically authorwise which makes reference very easy. A brief summary at the end of each listing tells you exactly what each book is about. It has 3 main sections, one the list of Everest books, second its climbing history and third a list of select Everest articles from journals and magazines. This book is certainly one of the best reference materials for any Everest book collector and a must for every mountaineer’s library.

The book is appropriately dedicated to Jill Neate, who started it all with her bibliography, Mountaineering Literature. The authors are aware of the expanding nature of their work and invite readers to contribute, to what they call, the quest for ‘Everestiana’. They will be kept busy as long as people climb Everest and write about it.

HARISH KAPADIA