Featured Item - "The Conquest of Everest"

George Lowe
The Conquest of Everest
Optimum Classics, 2007, 796.522 LOW

Mountaineer Edmund Hillary, who died today in Auckland aged 88, was the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, successfully reaching the summit with Tensing Norgay in 1953, as part of a British expedition led by John Hunt, and had a 40-foot vertical cliff on the mountain, the Hillary Step, named after him in the process.

The Conquest of Everest was filmed by the technician Tom Stobart, who accompanied Hillary and Tenzing for much of their journey (although not the final leg, captured only in photographs), and directed by George Lowe, was released later that same year, and went on to win the BAFTA for Best Documentary and be nominated for an Oscar. It details the preparation and planning the went in to the 1953 attempt, as well as its social context and the history of defeat these men set out to challenge.

To borrow a copy of The Conquest of Everest, please contact the RSA Library.