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The Vast Unknown: America's First Ascent of Everest Paperback – January 19, 2022

by Broughton Coburn (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 124 ratings
Editors' pick Best Nonfiction
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In the midst of the Cold War, against the backdrop of the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the space race with the Soviet Union, and the Vietnam War, a band of iconoclastic American mountaineers set off for Mount Everest, aiming to restore America's confidence and optimism. Their objective was to reach the summit while conducting scientific research, but which route would they take? Might the Chinese have reached the top ahead of them? And what about another American team, led by the grandson of a President, that nearly bagged the peak in a bootleg attempt a year earlier?

THE VAST UNKNOWN: America's First Ascent of Everest (Manaslu Books, 2022; first published by Crown Publishers in 2013) is New York Times-bestselling author BROUGHTON COBURN's harrowing, character-driven account of this momentous climb and its legendary team of alternately inspiring, troubled, and tragic climbers who suffered injuries, a near mutiny, and death on the mountain. It is also an examination of the profound sway the expedition had over the American consciousness during a time when the country was searching for its identity.

THE VAST UNKNOWN also investigates the expedition's little-known outcome: the selection of a team to plant a CIA surveillance device on the Himalayan peak of Nanda Devi, to spy into China, where nuclear missile testing was underway. Packed with riveting adventure, THE VAST UNKNOWN brings the first American expedition to life and provides perceptive analysis of the climb's dark historical context, just in time for the climb's 60th anniversary, in May of 2022.

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  1. Print length
    328 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Manaslu Books
  4. Publication date
    January 19, 2022
  5. Dimensions
    6.14 x 0.69 x 9.21 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    057834825X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0578348254
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Broughton Coburn has written a book to renew our faith in what it means to believe in each other, and in ourselves. This is what it looked like when ordinary men of extraordinary courage and self-discipline worked through tragedy, dissent and hardship not for individual glory but toward a common goal. When were we last this self-effacing, this optimistic, this outrageously can-do? A compulsively entertaining read."

-- Alexandra Fuller, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness


"...one of the best examples of mountaineering literature to date, period. That includes Heinrich Harrer's The White Spider, Lionel Terray's Conquistadors of the Useless, Maurice Herzog's Annapurna . . . Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, and Joe Simpson's Touching the Void .... "The Vast Unknown" holds its own against any of them with the quality of its prose, the detail of its research and its insights into expeditionary psychology."

-- The Jackson Hole News&Guide


"Although it had been summited several times already, Mount Everest was still virgin territory to American climbers in 1963. But it was more than a mountain that must be conquered. It was a symbol. At the time, JFK had announced his dedication to winning the space race, but the Russians were in the lead. Seeing a way to give Americans a shot of confidence, a group of mountaineers vowed to get to the top of Everest. This gripping account follows the climbers on their mission. In many ways, it's a typical climbing book (danger, bravery, excitement, triumph), but it's Coburn's perspective that makes it unusual. Likening a mountain-climbing expedition to a space mission is clever and apt, Everest being completely unknown, nearly as daunting and potentially deadly as outer space. (Coburn notes that, while one of the climbers was writing in his diary from 25,000 feet up the mountain, astronaut Gordon Cooper, in his first flight into space, was passing a mere 100 miles overhead.) Not just another book about mountain climbing, this is also a story of America in the early 1960s.

- David Pitt, BOOKLIST

About the Author

Broughton Coburn is a Visiting Assistant Professor for Colorado College, and has worked on conservation and development projects in Nepal and south Asia for two of the past five decades. He has written or edited nine books, including two US national bestsellers.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Manaslu Books; 2nd ed. edition (January 19, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 057834825X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0578348254
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.01 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.69 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 124 ratings

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Broughton Coburn

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
124 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Irene Rodgers
5.0 out of 5 stars The Vast Unkown
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2013
Verified Purchase
The man sitting next to me on the airplane was reading this book. I'd never heard of the 1963 US Mount Everest expedition, but last year sometime I'd read a 'biography' of George Mallory. So wanting to know more about Everest, I bought this book. It was well written with a great cast of characters. The author did a great job of creating a time and place with the addition of what was going on in the world durning the expediton. I guess the real reason people climb mountains is just 'becaue it's there.' A good read, only complaint the maps were too small to really read in the Kindle edition.
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Candy
4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2013
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This book kept my attention. In fact, I did nothing much but read until it was finished. Yes, I would recommend it.
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Tina L. Moore
5.0 out of 5 stars Educational and a quick read
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2015
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After viewing the movie, Everest, my interest in why people risk their lives to climb the tallest mountain in the world was peaked. (Who doesn't love a good pun?)...Anyway, this book was a Bookbub special and I downloaded it onto my Kindle. I learned about teamwork, what technical skills are needed to climb this beast of a mountain, and, most importantly, the passion that is necessary to fuel this sort of expedition. At times, I felt like I was on the mountain with them. I found the government involvement after their expedition very interesting as well. If you are looking for a solid read and have an interest in Everest- BEFORE its commercialization, you will like this book.
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5.0 out of 5 stars I Feel Like I Climbed Mount Everest
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2019
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I had no idea of the difficulties faced and overcome by my Dartmouth classmate and close friend Dave Dingman and his fellow climbers. This book carries you aloft to experience the thrill and the agony of this amazing adventure, now somewhat routine, but in 1963 a dangerous, memorable, and life altering experience. I didn't climb Mount Everest, but reading this book made me feel like I had!
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Daniel in maine
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2015
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well written interestingbook
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Rob
3.0 out of 5 stars Change of pace
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2013
Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
Wow, very many 4 and 5 star reviews on this one. Guess this will stand out a bit. Well, I hope I have good reasons!

After reading Buried in the Sky and No Way Down - dramatic, Touching-The-Void style retellings of the same K2 ascent - I, rightly or wrongly, expected The Vast Unknown to be told in a similar fashion; figurative and literal "cliff hangers" chapter-to-chapter with character profiles interspersed throughout. TVU is told in an almost opposite fashion, "eating your dinner before your dessert" so to speak.

Part 1 - If you're looking for deep character profiles and historical context around the Everest ascent, this book is for you. The writing style is as if the author had been present; extraordinarily detailed. While the characters were interesting as are the episodes of introduction and relationship development, the amount of primary and secondary characters is such that you're frequently referring to nearly 4 pages of the cast present in the preface; rather difficult to follow. Perhaps if Coburn didn't seemingly focus on every single character involved it would have been slightly more accessible, or I would have retained more during my initial read (though the sheer numbers of folks it take to ascend in the early days is understood).

Part 2 - "picks up" so to speak, where the bulk of the ascent-related material begins and concludes with you out of breath (as all good mountaineering adventure books do) 'coming down' with an epilogue. For me, Part 2 was the most compelling part of Unknown though by this time I was more relieved to be complete with the character study and just wanted to finish the darn thing.

While I appreciate the depth and style, not something I would recommend if you're adventure starved. If you're a mountaineering book junkie, this may be a refreshing change of pace.
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Anita Hill
5.0 out of 5 stars Entirely satisfying to me!
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2013
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I grew up in Jackson, Wyoming and was familiar with the names of the "Tetons" climbers involved here. A "Wyoming Chronicle" episode on Wyoming PBS intrigued me to check further into the book by Broughton Coburn. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and highly recommend it to anyone, especially those who grew up with the names of Jake Breitenbach, Barry Corbet, Lou Breitenbach, and Muffy Corbet Moore floating around the valley, as well as the highly esteemed and personal friend Rod Newcomb, an Exum guide and owner mentioned in the acknowledgements.
2 people found this helpful
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Ted Dodenhoff
5.0 out of 5 stars A unique book on a special event in mountaineering history.
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2014
Verified Purchase
I loved this book. I have a personal friend who was one of the main characters in the book so it took on special meaning for me. Mountaineering , and especially in the Himalayas, has changed drastically since the first American Expedition. This book highlights the differences between then and now and really points out the challenges and the significance of the West Ridge and where it ranks in first assents.
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Top reviews from other countries

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maexu
5.0 out of 5 stars Spannend und gut recherchiert
Reviewed in Germany on May 16, 2020
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Wer sich für Bergsport intereessiert findet hier einen interessanten geschichtlichen Rückblick auf die Eroberung des Mt. EVEREST zu Zeiten als es noch nicht Tausende dorthin zog.
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Brian
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Mt. Everest thriller
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2013
Verified Purchase
this is another excellent Mount Everest story. For myself, I can't get enough of these amazing tales of endurance and determination. This one set only ten years after the mountain was first climbed and when technology was far behind where it is today and before the days of the commercial climbers. A great insight into the minds of the men involved and also the women who were such a large part of it too
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