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After Everest

Inside the Private World of Edmund Hillary

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

A fascinating exploration of the life of mountaineer and adventurere, Edmund Hilary - penetrating beyond the legend to reveal a character of paradoxes.

Well if you have a big life, a lot of stuff happens. Dad had a big life.' - Peter Hillary

Edmund Hillary is a towering figure among adventurers. His conquest of Everest and his dedication to the welfare of the Nepalese people is well known. While much has been written about what Sir Edmund Hillary did, 'Ed', the man behind the legend, is less well known in large part because he controlled how his story was told.

The years leading up to Everest and the other great adventures are remarkable enough, but it is the drama of Ed's later years that throws light onto the world of the private man: the death of his wife and daughter in an air crash, his remarriage to the widow of an old friend, and, finally, the falling out, after his own death, of family members and those in his inner circle.

Ed's image was that of a simple, straightforward man, but in reality he was a complex bundle of paradoxes. He was an individualist who always worked with a team; a young loner who came to be loved by millions; a sometimes distant father who was seen as a surrogate parent by thousands of Nepalese; and a left-leaning thinker who accepted the highest order of chivalry from Queen Elizabeth II.

This is the story of the man behind the legend.

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    • Library Journal

      April 15, 2013

      Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first men documented to summit Mount Everest, an accomplishment that has effectively outshone everything else that Hillary (1919-2008) undertook during his life. Little (journalist, Herald on Sunday; North and South) with journalist and researcher Meng-Yee, attempts to separate the Hillary mythology from the man, and to shine a light on Hillary's life apart from mountaineering. Little's stated goal is to give the reader a sense of Hillary's full personality. The result is an entertaining portrait in which Little successfully avoids hagiography, no small feat when discussing a 20th-century icon. He does not hesitate to discuss the unsavory aspects of Hillary's personality, for example in relation to the deaths of Hillary's wife and daughter. Little presents a sympathetic but honest portrait of a man who allowed himself to become myopic in his grief and to subsequently let his surviving children down. VERDICT This engaging book is recommended to Everest hobbyists, as well as outdoor enthusiasts and casual nonfiction readers.--John Helling, Bloomfield-Eastern Greene Cty. P.L., IN

      Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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  • English

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