Sign-In
Cart
First on Everest: The Life of Howard Somervell
Hardcover
Adventurers & ExplorersTravel GeneralExploration
Publisher Price: $36.99
ISBN13: 9781803998282
Publisher: History Press
Published: Sep 29 2026
Pages: 288
Language: English
'Hoyland writes with rare authority, empathy and insight, delivering a vital and beautifully told biography long overdue.' - Sir Chris Bonington, renowned British mountaineer
'Hoyland eloquently charts [Somervell's] rise, through science, art, and religion, to become a mountaineer of the highest repute.' - Brian Hall, Boardman Tasker Prize judge and author of High Risk: Climbing to Extinction
The pioneers who attempted the first climbs of Mount Everest in 1922 and 1924 knew nothing about the mountain other than its height. They had to learn the hard way about the lack of oxygen, the jet-stream winds, the illnesses of altitude, and the vital importance of the Sherpas. They fought cerebral oedema, frostbite, hypothermia, and raging thirst in the cold, thin air. They had to find a route, avoid avalanches, and work out what to do when confronted by an insurmountable rock climb at extreme altitude. Many of them died.
Howard Somervell was Mallory's closest friend on the mountain during those groundbreaking first ascents. An exceptionally gifted man, his life takes us far beyond the mountain: he had a double first from Cambridge, was a talented artist and an accomplished musician. He served as a surgeon at the Battle of the Somme during the First World War and was one of the foremost alpinists of the day when he was invited to join the 1922 expedition. After Everest, he was awarded an Olympic gold medal for Alpinism in 1924. But in India, he will be remembered as a surgeon who dedicated the remainder of his life to healing the sick.
Those early climbers showed the way. Somervell took part in the first attempt to climb the mountain, and his oxygen-free height record in 1924 stood for over 50 years.
Also in
Adventurers & Explorers
The Little Book of Big Explorations: Adventures Into the Unknown That Changed Everything
Osman, Jheni
Paperback
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Paperback
Fierce Country: The Untold Story of Three Women Who Ignited America's Love for the Wild
Hansman, Heather
Hardcover
The Everest Mystery: Sandy Irvine, George Mallory, and the Truth Still Buried on Everest
Hemmleb, Jochen
Summers, Julie
Hardcover
Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail
Swift, Earl
Hardcover
The Traveler: One Man's Quest for Humanity from the South Seas to Revolutionary Paris
Wulf, Andrea
Hardcover
North of Ordinary: How One Woman Left It All Behind for Wilderness and Wonder in Alaska's Frozen Frontier
Aikens, Sue
Hardcover
Neptune's Fortune: The Billion-Dollar Shipwreck and the Ghosts of the Spanish Empire
Sancton, Julian
Hardcover
The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook
Sides, Hampton
Paperback
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Hardcover
Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West
Ambrose, Stephen E.
Paperback
Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon
Sevigny, Melissa L.
Paperback
The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America
Letts, Elizabeth
Paperback
Warden Force: Night Rider and Other True Game Warden Adventures: Episodes 1-13
Hodges, Terry
Paperback
Warden Force: Grim Witness and Other True Game Warden Adventures: Episodes 14-26
Hodges, Terry
Paperback
Earthrise: Inside Artemis II, the Groundbreaking Human Mission Into Deep Space
Larsen, John
Hansen, Jeremy
Hardcover
Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis
Egan, Timothy
Paperback
The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down
Woodard, Colin
Paperback
Warden Force: Ordeal at Skull Canyon and Other True Game Warden Adventures: Episodes 63-75
Hodges, Terry
Paperback
Warden Force: Delta Ghosts and Other True Game Warden Adventures: Episodes 27-38
Hodges, Terry
Paperback
Graveyard of the Pacific: Shipwreck and Survival on America's Deadliest Waterway
Sullivan, Randall
Paperback
Warden Force: Masters of Destruction and Other True Game Warden Adventures: Episodes 88-100
Hodges, Terry
Paperback
Things We Found in the Ground: Discovering the History Buried Beneath Our Feet
Gray, Lucie
Bruce, Ellie
Paperback
Mountain Man: John Colter, the Lewis & Clark Expedition, and the Call of the American West
Marshall, David Weston
Paperback
Neptune's Fortune: The Billion-Dollar Shipwreck and the Ghosts of the Spanish Empire (Large Print Edition)
Sancton, Julian
Paperback
The Birds That Audubon Missed: Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness
Kaufman, Kenn
Paperback
Warden Force: Deadly Intent and Other True Game Warden Adventures: Episodes 76 - 87
Hodges, Terry
Paperback
Warden Force: Cold, Cold Hearts and Other True Game Warden Adventures: Episodes 39 - 49
Hodges, Terry
Paperback
The Mesopotamian Riddle: An Archaeologist, a Soldier, a Clergyman, and the Race to Decipher the World's Oldest Writing
Hammer, Joshua
Paperback
The National Geographic Story: Legendary Photographs, Artifacts, Adventures, and Discoveries That Changed the World
National Geographic
Hardcover
Where the Green Light Shines: A Fifty-Year Odyssey from the Boundary Waters to the Far North
Rodgers, Ryan
Hardcover
Warden Force: Delta Ambush and Other True Game Warden Adventures: Episodes 50-62
Hodges, Terry
Paperback
Miscalculated Risks: Attacked, Crippled, Paralyzed, Drowning, Unconscious and Freezing in The Wild (Just Not All at Once)
Cooper, Michael
Paperback
The First to Go West: American Ambition, Bloody Conquest, and the Fateful Journey of Jedediah Smith
Clavin, Tom
Drury, Bob
Paperback
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
Millard, Candice
Paperback
Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women's Ascent of Denali
Randall, Cassidy
Hardcover
Go Quiet on the Mountain: The Power of Stepping Away from a World That Never Stops
Jenkins, Jedidiah
Hardcover
River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana and the Deadly First Voyage Through the Amazon
Levy, Buddy
Paperback
Alone in Wonderland: Longing for Connection and Adventure in the Shadow of Mount Rainier -- A Memoir
Reed, Christine E.
Paperback
In the Field with National Geographic: The Inside Story of Legendary Explorers, Educators, Scientists, and Storytellers
National Geographic
Paperback
Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and Their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight
Teitel, Amy Shira
Paperback
Let the Water Do the Work: Stories of First Descents & the Soulful Art of Rowing Whitewater
Fox, Peter
Paperback
The Explorers Club Presents: Letters from the Edge: Stories of Curiosity, Bravery, and Discovery
The Explorers Club
Wilser, Jeff
Hardcover
Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West
Stegner, Wallace
Paperback
The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook
Sides, Hampton
Hardcover
Adrift [Movie Tie-In]: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Survival at Sea
Ashcraft, Tami Oldham
Paperback
Alive: Sixteen Men, Seventy-Two Days, and Insurmountable Odds--The Classic Adventure of Survival in the Andes
Read, Piers Paul
Paperback
Death In Big Bend: True Stories of Death & Rescue in the Big Bend National Park
Parent, Laurence
Paperback
Hush of the Land: A Lifetime in the Bob Marshall Wilderness
Maggi, Eva-Maria
Elser, Arnold Smoke
Paperback
Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer
Roberts, David
Paperback
The Mesopotamian Riddle: An Archaeologist, a Soldier, a Clergyman, and the Race to Decipher the World's Oldest Writing
Hammer, Joshua
Hardcover
The Space Shuttle: A Mission-By-Mission Celebration of Nasa's Extraordinary Spaceflight Program
Miller, Roland
Hardcover
Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut
Hernández, José M.
Hardcover
The Real Captain Norm Isaacs: My Life of Big Game Fishing, Flying and Addiction
Isaacs, Norm
Paperback
The Earl and the Pharaoh: From the Real Downton Abbey to the Discovery of Tutankhamun
The Countess of Carnarvon
Paperback
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home
Parrado, Nando
Rause, Vince
Paperback
Van of Valor: A 27,000-Mile Journey Through American Sacrifice
Wallace, Kevin P.
Wallace, L. Wright
Paperback
Born to Fly: The inspiring Story of an Australian Teenagers Record-Breaking Flight Around the World
Campbell, Ryan
Paperback
Evil on the Roof of the World: A Cycling Trip That Ended in Terror
Hazelgrove, William Elliott
Hardcover
Ghost Town Living: Mining for Purpose and Chasing Dreams at the Edge of Death Valley
Underwood, Brent
Hardcover
The World Walk: 7 Years. 28,000 Miles. 6 Continents. a Grand Meditation, One Step at a Time.
Turcich, Tom
Paperback
Everest, Inc.: The Renegades and Rogues Who Built an Industry at the Top of the World
Cockrell, Will
Paperback
True Spirit: The True Story of a 16-Year-Old Australian Who Sailed Solo, Nonstop, and Unassisted Around the World
Watson, Jessica
Paperback
Shoot for the Moon: The Space Race and the Extraordinary Voyage of Apollo 11
Donovan, James
Paperback
The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America
Letts, Elizabeth
Hardcover
Natural Rivals: John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and the Creation of America's Public Lands
Clayton, John
Paperback
Perfect Unfolding: Seven Years of Life-Changing Solo Adventure, One Year That Broke Me Open
Halvorsen, Kristy
Paperback