Longlisted for the 2020 William Hill Sports Book of the Year'A gripping history' THE ECONOMIST
'The World Beneath Their Feet contains plenty of rollicking stories' THE TIMES'Gripping' THE
SUNDAY TIMES'So far as adventure stories go this book is tops.' Winston Groom author of
Forrest Gump'[Ellsworth] recasts the era as a great Himalayan race...[and] it works
brilliantly...his account of the 1953 ascent of Everest...feels unusually fresh' THE SUNDAY
TIMES 'Like if Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air met Lauren Hillenbrand's Unbroken ... an inviting
and engrossing read' SPORTS ILLUSTRATEDOne of the most compelling international dramas of the
20th century and an unforgettable saga of survival technological innovation and breathtaking
human physical achievement-all set against the backdrop of a world headed toward war.While
tension steadily rose between European powers in the 1930s a different kind of battle was
raging across the Himalayas. Contingents from Great Britain Nazi Germany and the United
States had set up rival camps at the base of the mountains all hoping to become recognized as
the fastest strongest and bravest climbers in the world.Carried on across nearly the entire
sweep of the Himalayas this contest involved not only the greatest mountain climbers of the
era but statesmen and millionaires world-class athletes and bona fide eccentrics scientists
and generals obscure villagers and national heroes. Centered in the 1930s with one brief
shining postwar coda the contest was a struggle between hidebound traditionalists and unknown
innovators one that featured new techniques and equipment unbelievable courage and physical
achievement and unparalleled valor. And death. One Himalayan peak alone Nanga Parbat in
Kashmir claimed twenty-five lives in less than three years.Climbing the Himalayas was the
Greatest Generation's moonshot--one shrouded in the onset of war interrupted by it and then
fully accomplished. A gritty fascinating history that promises to enrapture fans of Hampton
Side Jon Krakauer and Laura Hillenbrand The World Beneath Their Feet brings this forgotten
story back to life.
