In 1953, the ascent of Everest remained the last of Earth's great challenges. Standing at over 29,000ft, the world's highest mountain posed a fearsome challenge and had already claimed thirteen lives in previous expeditions. When Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay finally achieved the impossible and became the first men to stand atop Everest, it was an event that stunned the world and defined an era.

"Up on the world's highest mountain, the sky is tinged the black color of space and the air is almost too thin to breathe. How did Ed, a small, shy boy from the tiny town of Tuakau in New Zealand, grow up to become the world's most famous mountaineer and adventurer? How did he climb Everest and do so many other astonishing things?"--Publisher information.