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Into the Silence
- Narrated by: Enn Reitel
- Length: 28 hrs and 53 mins
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Into the Silence
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Summary
Winner of the 2012 Samuel Johnson prize
A monumental work of history, biography and adventure – the First World War, Mallory and Mount Everest – ten years in the writing. If the quest for Mount Everest began as a grand imperial gesture, as redemption for an empire of explorers that had lost the race to the Poles, it ended as a mission of regeneration for a country and a people bled white by war.Of the twenty-six British climbers who, on three expeditions (1921-24), walked 400 miles off the map to find and assault the highest mountain on Earth, twenty had seen the worst of the fighting: six had been severely wounded; two others nearly killed by disease at the Front; one hospitalized twice with shell shock; three army surgeons, who dealt for the duration with the agonies of the dying; two lost brothers, killed in action. All had endured the slaughter, the coughing of the guns, the bones and barbed wire, the white faces of the dead.
In a monumental work of history and adventure, ten years in the writing, Wade Davis asks not whether George Mallory was the first to reach the summit of Everest, but rather why he kept on climbing on that fateful day. His answer lies in a single phrase uttered by one of the survivors as they retreated from the mountain: 'The price of life is death.' Mallory walked on because for him, as for all of his generation, death was but 'a frail barrier that men crossed, smiling and gallant, every day'. As climbers they accepted a degree of risk unimaginable before the war. They were not cavalier, but death was no stranger. They had seen so much that it had no hold on them. What mattered was how one lived, the moments of being alive. For all of them Everest had become an exalted radiance, a sentinel in the sky, a symbol of hope in a world gone mad.
An Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, Wade Davis holds degrees in anthropology and biology and a PhD in ethnobotany, all from Harvard University. Davis is the author of 15 books including The Serpent and the Rainbow, One River, and The Wayfinders. His many film credits include Light at the Edge of the World, an eight-hour documentary series produced for the National Geographic Channel. In 2009 he received the Gold Medal from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society for his contributions to anthropology and conservation, and he is the 2011 recipient of the Explorers Medal, the highest award of the Explorers' Club, and the 2012 David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration, the most prestigious prize for botanical exploration.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Paul
- 10-07-17
Incredible
Great historical information woven into a compulsive tale that matches any of the Everest attempts
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Tw Fairhall
- 02-03-23
Wow what they went through before they even got to the mountain
Great book and excellent listen, what a breed of men they were to fight such a nasty war to then want to climb the unassailable Everest in very basic clothing and equipment extraordinary.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mr. Fox Stephen
- 22-09-20
Epic
An epic account of a truly epic episode in history, quite extraordinary in scope and increasingly dramatic as it reaches its tragic climax
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Rosie S
- 08-09-18
What a brilliant book.
Easily the best book that I have listened to or read this year. A stunning blend of history and adventure. The two films that were made of the 1922 and 1924 expeditions by the participating Captain Noel are available online and are good companions to this book. Just wonderful.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- siobhan taylor-ward
- 27-05-21
perfect performance of an epic tale
Couldn't stop listening and learned so much about our colonial past in India and surrounding nations. Really fascinating to come to understand the interplay between the War and the intense desire to reach the top of the world. would recommend to all with interest in our past and our and discovery.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- annie
- 12-10-15
Fabulous book
What made the experience of listening to Into the Silence the most enjoyable?
From beginning to end it was interesting. The characters, whether you liked them or not, were real, and the history fascinating - amazing insights into how the First World War impacted society in general and men in particular.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Into the Silence?
Too many to mention.... I guess when Mallory's body was found.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Hugely. At times I laughed and at times I was awe-struck.
Any additional comments?
A long journey but I'd recommend it as a classic. Not many books are this well researched and this well written with characters that come alive.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- PrimaDiva
- 16-09-20
Fascinating
I was totally gripped by the endeavour of the book and the attempts on Everest. The back stories of the protagonists brought insight and perspective. Agree with other reviewers that sometimes I found the narrators pronunciation jatted, but a small price to pay for such an engrossing story.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- David
- 07-12-23
Highly recommended
Well researched and narrated. A sad story that shows the courage and determination of a generation of young men who were emerging from the terrible First World War.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Margaret
- 11-07-13
Monumental.......
This is certainly one of the "best" audiobooks I have ever listened to. I put best in quotation marks as it is very hard to compare to say a crime thriller or pure history. I am not surprised that it took 10 years to write as the scope is vast - from the depths of the trenches of the first world war to the heights of Everest.
I finished listening and I know that I will have to listen again as there is so much detail and information provided on the war, climbing and religion that I have certainly failed to take in quite a lot of it.
I do know one thing though, Mallory and his ilk, although perhaps driven in a way I can't really understand, are men who deserve respect (in the proper old fashioned use of the word) and really did feel that if they died while trying to achieve something they believed in utterly, it wasn't a waste.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 21-10-21
An amazing, well researched epitaph
A meticulously well researched and moving biography to the lives of those who endeavoured first to climb Everest. From an era of men and women to whom we owe our freedom to enjoy the mountains. Life mattered less than the moments of being alive.
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