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  • Into the Silence

  • The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest
  • Written by: Wade Davis
  • Narrated by: Enn Reitel
  • Length: 28 hrs and 53 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (28 ratings)

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Into the Silence cover art

Into the Silence

Written by: Wade Davis
Narrated by: Enn Reitel
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Publisher's Summary

On June 6, 1924, two men set out from a camp perched at 23,000 feet on an ice ledge just below the lip of Mount Everest’s North Col. George Mallory, thirty-seven, was Britain’s finest climber. Sandy Irvine was a young Oxford scholar of twenty-two with little previous mountaineering experience. Neither of them returned.

In this magisterial work of history and adventure, based on more than a decade of prodigious research in British, Canadian, and European archives, and months in the field in Nepal and Tibet, Wade Davis vividly re-creates British climbers’ epic attempts to scale Mount Everest in the early 1920s. With new access to letters and diaries, Davis recounts the heroic efforts of George Mallory and his fellow climbers to conquer the mountain in the face of treacherous terrain and furious weather. Into the Silence sets their remarkable achievements in sweeping historical context: Davis shows how the exploration originated in nineteenth-century imperial ambitions, and he takes us far beyond the Himalayas to the trenches of World War I, where Mallory and his generation found themselves and their world utterly shattered. In the wake of the war that destroyed all notions of honor and decency, the Everest expeditions, led by these scions of Britain’s elite, emerged as a symbol of national redemption and hope.

Beautifully written and rich with detail, Into the Silence is a classic account of exploration and endurance, and a timeless portrait of an extraordinary generation of adventurers, soldiers, and mountaineers the likes of which we will never see again.

©2011 Wade Davis (P)2011 Random House Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
World Great Britain
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What the critics say

“The First World War, the worst calamity humanity has ever inflicted on itself, still reverberates in our lives. In its immediate aftermath, a few young men who had fought in it went looking for a healing challenge, and found it far from the Western Front. In recreating their astonishing adventure, Wade Davis has given us an elegant meditation on the courage to carry on.” (George F. Will)
“I was captivated. Wade Davis has penned an exceptional book on an extraordinary generation. They do not make them like that any more. And there would always only ever be one Mallory. From the pathos of the trenches to the inevitable tragedies high on Everest this is a book deserving of awards. Monumental in its scope and conception it nevertheless remains hypnotically fascinating throughout. A wonderful story tinged with sadness.” (Joe Simpson, author of Touching the Void)
“Into the Silence is utterly fascinating, and grippingly well-written. With extraordinary skill Wade Davis manages to weave together such disparate strands as Queen Victoria’s Indian Raj, the ‘Great Game’ of intrigue against Russia, the horrors of the Somme, and Britain’s obsession to conquer the world’s highest peak, all linking to that terrible moment atop Everest when Mallory fell to his death. The mystery of whether he and Irving ever reached the summit remains tantalizingly unsolved.” (Alistair Horne, author of The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916)

What listeners say about Into the Silence

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

Captivating

Captivating recounting of the tale of some fascinating characters from such a different time and place. The war was tragic and forever changed these men. They tried to fill a hole left in their souls with this ultimate challenge of mountaineering, to conquer the worlds tallest park. They underestimated the challenge.

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Expansive

All in all an excellent book. Gives you a look at a part of History when everyone was so different. Trust faith courage these were Hallmarks of that time. Also like the fact that the author did not shy away from the more questionable aspects of that time. Thoroughly enjoyed it followed it up with some online photographs that are pretty amazing.

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Profile Image for Monica

Historical intrigue

I found the approach with this narrative quite interesting when understanding the post World War I situation in which exploration of Mount Everest was occurring. The author flips between describing the exploration, to individuals backgrounds and history within their role during the war. It’s quite fascinating to think about this time in the world, and the desire to, or rather need, to find something of hope. Narration was strong and clear. Thank you - I quite enjoyed it!

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Profile Image for Koreen Scott

What an achievement!

I can't imagine the amount of research gone into this fantastic book. Wade Davis so thoroughly captured the horrors of WW1 and the resulting effect on its survivors. He elucidates the attitudes and importance of the challenge that drew men like Mallory to take on the mountain and try to conquer it at all costs.

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Profile Image for Leslie

Good story, well told, weird pronunciation,

Like most people here, I love to listen to audible books when I’m doing something else. This book is good but WTF is going on with the pronunciation? Are readers not given an opportunity to review the material and research words (or place names) with which they are not familiar? It is such a distraction, it happens over and over again, and it has really diminished my enjoyment of this book (and others). I recommend this book only if you have never heard the place names of famous WW1 battles or rivers in Canada as pronounced by native English speakers.

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