Francis Younghusband (1863–1942)

Younghusband displays all that was wrong in the British colonial view of the countries and peoples who were governed by the British Empire. He dismisses all expeditions by other nationalities and those who he does not consider to be worthy of the "greater heights". All of this despite admitting that he is no mountaineer himself. He gives a brief outline of the Everest expeditions to date (1936) and then dedicates the rest of the book to his own beliefs that there are likely to be other show more intelligences throughout the Universe and how we should look on the Great Mind/Creator/Supreme Being that put it all in motion. He would have been in his seventies when writing this and probably should have been put out to pasture previously. Only read it to get a sense of his anachronistic views, don't expect to learn anything about mountaineering. In fact, save yourself the bother and just don't read it! show less

Colonel Blimp rambles on interminably in a style belonging to a previous century. Were these thoughts, when published, revelations? I hardly think so. It is shocking that, during the wartime era of privation in Britain, valuable resources were devoted to the production of this book. Madness, although I laboured through every word, in an effort to get a glimpse of this iconic man. It was a waste of my time.