Graham Hoyland First on Everest review and information. History Press will publish this book by Graham Hoyland about Howard Somervell, the mountaineer, who climbed Mount Everest together with George Mallory, on May 25 in 2026. Here you can read information about the content of the book, the author and the publication.

Graham Hoyland First on Everest review

• “In First on Everest, Graham Hoyland restores Dr. Howard Somervell to his rightful place in the story of Himalayan exploration—an unsung pioneer whose courage, compassion, and heroism shaped the foundations of high-altitude mountaineering. As Somervell’s cousin and a veteran Everester who has himself stood on the summit, Hoyland writes with rare authority, empathy and insight, delivering a vital and beautifully told biography long overdue.” (Chris Bonington, mountaineer)

First on Everest

The Life of Howard Somervell

• Author: Graham Hoyland (England)
• Book type: mountaineering book, portrait
• Publisher: The History Press
• To be released: May 25, 2026
• Length: 272 pages
• Format: hardback / ebook
• Prize: £ 22.00 / £ 12.99
• Order book from: Amazon / Bol

Blurb of the book about Howard Somervell, the British mountaineer

In 1999 my expedition found George Mallory’s body on Mount Everest. The intense public interest in his tragic fate obscured the other actors in that dramatic story.

The pioneers who attempted the first climbs in 1922 and 1924 knew nothing about the mountain other than its height. They had to learn the hard way about the lack of oxygen, the jet-stream winds, the illnesses of altitude, and the vital importance of the Sherpas. They fought cerebral oedema, frostbite, hypothermia and raging thirst in the cold, thin air. They had to find a route, avoid avalanches, and work out what to do when confronted by an insuperable rock climb at extreme altitude. Many of them died.

Howard Somervell was Mallory’s closest friend on the mountain in 1922 and 1924. He was an exceptionally gifted man: he had a double first at Cambridge, he was a talented artist and an accomplished musician. He served as a surgeon at the Battle of the Somme during the First World War and was one of the foremost alpinists of the day when he was invited to join the 1922 Mount Everest expedition. After Everest he was awarded an Olympic gold medal for Alpinism in 1924. But in India he will be remembered as a surgeon who dedicated the remainder of his life to healing the sick.

Those pioneers showed the way. Somervell took part in the first attempt to climb the mountain, and his oxygen-free height record in 1924 stood for over 50 years. On his descent he sat down alone suffocating from a frost-bitten larynx. He prepared to die, but at the last moment performed a medical manoeuvre which cleared his airway. He survived to struggle back down.

Howard Somervell was my cousin, and I am one of the last Everesters left alive to have spoken with a climber from George Mallory’s party.

Graham Hoyland was born 12 May 1957. Mountaineer and sailor Hoyland was the 15th Briton to climb Mount Everest and initiated the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition, which was responsible for finding George Mallory’s body. Hoyland was a BBC producer for over 30 years and worked on programmes such as Dragon’s Den. The Independent named him as one of the ‘5 Most Inspiring Explorers’. Howard Somervell, a member of the 1922 and 1924 Everest expeditions, was his great uncle.

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