Kampf und Sieg am Nanga Parbat. Karl M. Herrligkoffer. Bayerische Verlagsanstalt, Bamberg, 1979. 160 pages, 89 photos in black and white and 7 in color. Maps and diagrams. Maps as end-papers with all routes marked. Mount Everest. K.M. Herrligkoffer. Albert Langen, Georg Müller Verlag, München, Wien, 1982. 318 pages, 84 photos in black and white and 31 in color. Maps as end-papers with all routes marked.

Sieg am Kanchenjunga. Karl Herrligkoffer. Knaur, München, 1983. 344 pages, 71 photos in black and white and 14 in color. Paperbound.

All three of these books in German were written by Dr. Herrligkoffer, who has led many expeditions to the great mountains of the world. In each he deals in some detail with his own expeditions to the respective peaks, which number eight to Nanga Parbat, two to Everest and one to Kanchenjunga. Since the author is not completely uncontroversial, it is interesting to read, for instance, his account of the Messner brothers’ ascent and tragic descent of Nanga Parbat, on which Günther Messner died. For many, however, the most valuable part of each book is the complete history of climbing on each of the mountains. The books vary considerably. The binding of the Nanga Parbat book is of cardboard, though the rest of the book and the photos are well printed. The Everest book is well bound and very well printed. The Kanchenjunga book is of small format and printed on paper which does not let the photos come out very well. All three of the books are, however, valuable to the mountain historian and to the climber who hopes to visit any of these peaks.