True Summits - Book Review

True Summits is a journalistic overview of Annapurna’s first ascent in 1950 by the French expedition led by Maurice Herzog. For nearly half a century Herzog’s chronicle of the climb Annapurna was the authoritative summary and is often heralded as the finest mountaineering narrative ever penned.

Annapurna was the first of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 meters to be climbed. Located deep in the Himalayan Mountains, it was climbed in a style radical to the day, but with traumatic results.

Within the last 10 years, however, a controversy has arisen when other members of the expedition voiced their version of how the story unfolded. David Roberts compares the different journals, diaries, interviews, and personal letters of the climbers to develop a more definitive description of what really happened.

According to Roberts, the Herzog version is inaccurate. Herzog’s main goal has been to glorify himself and over the last half-century has achieved just that, capitalizing on his success in the mountains to catapult himself into political celebrity. Roberts explains how the true story of Annapurna stayed muddled for so long and makes major headway into putting it into the correct perspective.

This book is an intriguing look into the culture of the highest peaks as well as the selfish ambitions of the lowest men.