George Mallory a biography

Mallory`s disappearance on Everest in 1924 secured a place for him as one of
the accepted heroes of the 20th century: it tended, at the same time, to
overshadow the course of his life as a whole and to obscure the shape and
complexity of his personality. In this first full biography, David Robertson –
who has had access to all the family papers – follows Mallory`s life from
boyhood in Cheshire and at Winchester, through the years from 1905 to 1909 at
Cambridge and the years of school mastering at Charterhouse. Then on to a
happy marriage, service in the First World War, and participation in the
Everest Expeditions of the Twenties. Two deep devotions – to the spirit of
adventure and to his family and personal friends – were the mainsprings of his
life.
This book, first published in 1969, shows him not only as a mountaineer of
extraordinary skill and action. It portraits a man who developed lively
interests in the fields of literature, the arts and the main social and
political controversies of his day, and one whose circle of friends included
some of his most brilliant contemporaries. Above all, it succeeds in conveying
Mallory`s immense but unselfconscious charm, enhanced by transparent
determination to find out what was right – a charm captivating to so many, and
so very different people.