40 eyewitness accounts from the first attempts on the summit in the1920s to the disasters of 2014.

This selection of the very best writing on Everest begins with the first attempts and continues, via Mallory's failed bid and Hillary and Tenzing's triumph, to the disasters of recent years. It features 40 white-knuckle accounts of climbing on the world's highest mountain, with all the tragedy and triumph of humankind's striving for the top of the world, by those who know the 'Death Zone' best - the climbers themselves.

But there is much more here than exhilarating first-hand accounts of climbing on Everest, including full history of the conquest of Everest and an evocative portrait of the cruel, natural beauty of Chomolungma, 'The Mother Goddess of the World'.