The Maverick Mountaineer: The Remarkable Life Of George Ingle Finch: Climber, Scientist, Inventor by Robert Wainwright
Hardback by Allen & Unwin, £17.99 (ebook £8.03)
Mount Everest is associated with many famous names but here journalist and biographer Robert Wainwright focuses on a lesser-known member of the 1922 British expedition to reach its summit: anti-Establishment chemist George Finch, the disputed Australian father of Hollywood actor Peter Finch.
We follow his colourful history, from being taught to swim in Sydney Harbour to developing a love of climbing in Europe then settling in England shortly before War I broke out.
The bulk of the book concerns his forward-thinking approach to mountaineering; as an early supporter of oxygen, prominent members of London’s Alpine Club and Royal Geographical Society apparently mounted a campaign to discredit him.
Wainwright leads us through Finch’s three marriages and professional battles with restrained bias towards his subject; never glossing over his more questionable decisions, but offering potential explanations.
His extremely readable style is largely linear, with tantalising references to future events or as-yet-unintroduced characters.
My main criticism is a tendency to skirt over facts – there are several anecdotes told by unidentified relatives or students, which jar with the creative license taken to imagine Finch’s thoughts and feelings.