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After Everest: The Experiences of a Mountaineer and Medical Missionary
"After Everest" is the memoir of the remarkable T. Howard Somervell: physician, soldier, artist, musician, mountaineer and missionary.
Somervell is perhaps best known for his participation in the earliest British quests to climb Mount Everest in the 1920s, including the now legendary second attempt during which George Mallory and Sandy Irvine vanished on their way to the peak. In After Everest, Somervell gives a fascinating and detailed account of the expeditions, including his own then-record ascents on the mountain and culminating on that fateful day when Mallory and Irvine disappeared into the clouds and entered mountaineering lore forever.
This in itself would be enough for one life and one book, but this story encompasses so much more.
In his clear, accessible and conversational style, Somervell tells of his idyllic youth and an upbringing founded on strength of family and faith. He recounts his love of climbing and his early adventures on the peaks of Britian and Europe. We are with him during his service as an army surgeon amidst the horrors of the trenches during World War One. And we see his true life’s labour working in his later years as a medical missionary among the poor of Southern India.
"After Everest" is an adventure tale, a history, and the story of a life lived joyously and to the full. As Sir Francis Younghusband writes in his foreword, it is “a testament to that spirit of adventure without which life would be a poor thing and progress impossible. . . . I am perfectly certain that everyone who reads it will be wanting to climb mountains, paint pictures, make music, do all the good that it is in him to do, and, in general, enjoy life to the full like Somervell.”
Somervell is perhaps best known for his participation in the earliest British quests to climb Mount Everest in the 1920s, including the now legendary second attempt during which George Mallory and Sandy Irvine vanished on their way to the peak. In After Everest, Somervell gives a fascinating and detailed account of the expeditions, including his own then-record ascents on the mountain and culminating on that fateful day when Mallory and Irvine disappeared into the clouds and entered mountaineering lore forever.
This in itself would be enough for one life and one book, but this story encompasses so much more.
In his clear, accessible and conversational style, Somervell tells of his idyllic youth and an upbringing founded on strength of family and faith. He recounts his love of climbing and his early adventures on the peaks of Britian and Europe. We are with him during his service as an army surgeon amidst the horrors of the trenches during World War One. And we see his true life’s labour working in his later years as a medical missionary among the poor of Southern India.
"After Everest" is an adventure tale, a history, and the story of a life lived joyously and to the full. As Sir Francis Younghusband writes in his foreword, it is “a testament to that spirit of adventure without which life would be a poor thing and progress impossible. . . . I am perfectly certain that everyone who reads it will be wanting to climb mountains, paint pictures, make music, do all the good that it is in him to do, and, in general, enjoy life to the full like Somervell.”
319 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1936
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 27, 2015
“After Everest” addresses that annoyingly awkward well-what-DOES-one-do after-one-has-so-nearly-but-not-quite-climbed-to-the-summit-of-Mt Everest question?
Unfortunately for me, I found the first half of this little book (Everest) so fascinating; that the second half, covering Somervell’s later medical missionary work in SW India, although a deeply worthy subject of study in its own right; just refused to grasp and hold my attention. I sleepily skipped through way too many pages; resulting in a predictably dissatisfied, guilty, failure, entirely of my own doing.
In this book there is a useful birds-eye view sketch map of Everest (as surveyed in 1921, with additions 1924) across pages 144 & 145; showing the sweep of the mountain from Gyachung Kang (25910ft) across to Pethangtse (22060ft) and Khartichangri (23070ft) across to Pumari (23190ft). The positions of the six 1924 expedition camps (plus base camp) are marked, as is the point (28,200ft) at which George Mallory was last seen. The tragic loss of Mallory and Irvine convinced Somervell that the mountain’s summit would not be reached without oxygen; and not without overcoming anticipated serious difficulties in crossing a wide scree of very loose rock.
Emotionally he does not fall apart; he accepts calmly and rationally that the loss of two lives is part of the price paid to “keep alive the spirit of adventure” and that life would be but a shadow, the forward momentum of humanity impossible without the strength and verve of the human spirit (p.136). Nowadays mourners are popularly expected to bare their souls, weep and shriek copiously, demand additional safety measures (at someone else’s expense) or compensation, and generally make a complete and embarrassingly childish spectacle of themselves. I prefer Somervell’s manner, to live life and mourn death with dignity.
I shall brush over my failures to fully appreciate the second half of the book (India), other than to say that for anyone studying English Christianity or the product of English public schools in the final years of Empire; Somervell’s book must surely rate as a must-read source. Picking just two out of very many examples, I was humbled to read of his practical, personal, and non-judgemental commitment to saving the lives of those born less fortunate than him. He has no time whatsoever for those who sought to exploit the poor through, in this case, (pp.309-310) costly daily injections instead of once-off surgical removal of an ovarian cyst. His ire, too, bubbles up when confronted by the social compulsion for an impoverished man to unnecessarily spend far more on his daughter’s wedding dowry than he can realistically afford (pp.276-277). Sadly, some things have not yet changed; the same continues to be seen in Britain today (2013).
Unfortunately for me, I found the first half of this little book (Everest) so fascinating; that the second half, covering Somervell’s later medical missionary work in SW India, although a deeply worthy subject of study in its own right; just refused to grasp and hold my attention. I sleepily skipped through way too many pages; resulting in a predictably dissatisfied, guilty, failure, entirely of my own doing.
In this book there is a useful birds-eye view sketch map of Everest (as surveyed in 1921, with additions 1924) across pages 144 & 145; showing the sweep of the mountain from Gyachung Kang (25910ft) across to Pethangtse (22060ft) and Khartichangri (23070ft) across to Pumari (23190ft). The positions of the six 1924 expedition camps (plus base camp) are marked, as is the point (28,200ft) at which George Mallory was last seen. The tragic loss of Mallory and Irvine convinced Somervell that the mountain’s summit would not be reached without oxygen; and not without overcoming anticipated serious difficulties in crossing a wide scree of very loose rock.
Emotionally he does not fall apart; he accepts calmly and rationally that the loss of two lives is part of the price paid to “keep alive the spirit of adventure” and that life would be but a shadow, the forward momentum of humanity impossible without the strength and verve of the human spirit (p.136). Nowadays mourners are popularly expected to bare their souls, weep and shriek copiously, demand additional safety measures (at someone else’s expense) or compensation, and generally make a complete and embarrassingly childish spectacle of themselves. I prefer Somervell’s manner, to live life and mourn death with dignity.
I shall brush over my failures to fully appreciate the second half of the book (India), other than to say that for anyone studying English Christianity or the product of English public schools in the final years of Empire; Somervell’s book must surely rate as a must-read source. Picking just two out of very many examples, I was humbled to read of his practical, personal, and non-judgemental commitment to saving the lives of those born less fortunate than him. He has no time whatsoever for those who sought to exploit the poor through, in this case, (pp.309-310) costly daily injections instead of once-off surgical removal of an ovarian cyst. His ire, too, bubbles up when confronted by the social compulsion for an impoverished man to unnecessarily spend far more on his daughter’s wedding dowry than he can realistically afford (pp.276-277). Sadly, some things have not yet changed; the same continues to be seen in Britain today (2013).
July 5, 2011
Howard Somervell participated in the British Mount Everest expeditions of 1922 and 1924. Along with Col. Norton (who went a bit higher), he set an altitude record for a climb without oxygen in 1924 that stood until 1978. Somervell nearly lost his life by choking to death on a piece of his own frostbitten larynx on the descent, but was able to perform the Heimlich maneuver on himself and survived. Like most of the other early Everesters, he was a pretty tough guy, but also passed his down time painting Himalayan landscapes and reading poetry with George Mallory, whom he considered a kindred spirit and close friend.
This book (now in the public domain and available on Internet Archive) is Dr. Somervell's autobiography recounting his Everest experiences and his work as a medical missionary in India after the expeditions. His attitudes about religion, British imperialism, and social stratification are surprisingly modern. He writes also of the medical conditions he treats and the variety of social issues that exacerbate them. His writing style is straightforward though not particularly inspired. It may interest those interested in the early Everest expeditions, colonial India, or tropical medicine.
This book (now in the public domain and available on Internet Archive) is Dr. Somervell's autobiography recounting his Everest experiences and his work as a medical missionary in India after the expeditions. His attitudes about religion, British imperialism, and social stratification are surprisingly modern. He writes also of the medical conditions he treats and the variety of social issues that exacerbate them. His writing style is straightforward though not particularly inspired. It may interest those interested in the early Everest expeditions, colonial India, or tropical medicine.
February 14, 2025
An extremely interesting autobiography of a remarkable man. Howard Somervell was a member of the 1922 and 1924 expeditions to Everest and climbed to within striking distance of the summit prior to the attempt by Mallory and Irvine. In response to the poverty he had witnessed in India en route to the Himalaya he spent his subsequent entire working life as a Medical Missionary in Neyyoor, Southern India. The book gives a great insight into both the struggles on Everest, his work in the hospital and the Indian customs and beliefs of the time.
June 27, 2015
The book is inspiring. Scaling Mount Everest though noble, was not worth losing one's life for. After a failed Everest expedition where two lives were lost, T H Somervell finds greater purpose in serving as a doctor in an obscure location.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews