New Zealand, 1969, 1st edition. 250 pp, 54 plates, 4 maps. Hardcover with dust jacket. Near Fine.
Neate call this a "Valuable reference book..." Includes several chapters on Hillary, Everest and Kangchenjunga.
From the dust wrapper: 'As The subtitle says, this is the story of New Zealand mountaineers in the great ranges of the world. It is the first book to tell the whole story. when Hillary climbed Everest in 1953 there was an enormous expansion of interest in mountaineering and expeditions overseas.
Mountaineers were spurred to new achievements. In the many expeditions that have since gone to the Himalayas, Andes, Antarctica to every corner of the mountain world, New Zealanders have played a prominent part.
Some of the world's highest and most difficult peaks have first felt the tread of a New Zealand boot. The story of these adventures has hitherto been told in fragments. Many expeditions have been recorded only in club journals; some in sections of wider-ranging books.
The World at Their Feet draws all the threads together. It traces the development of mountaineering in the Southern Alps, tells of the first New Zealanders overseas before World War 2, and describes the climbs and events that led to the ascents of Everest in 1953 and Kangchenjunga in 1955. The book then broadens to cover the increased expedition activity up to the present day.
The illustrations include four pages of colour. The impressive selection of black and white photographs features some not published before. In the book, for the first time, is a complete list of expeditions in which New Zealanders have taken part.'
