'One of the best books ever written about the early attempts to conquer Everest. A fine, fine slice of history by a truly special writer who proves time and time again that he is among the best of his generation' Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets'A small classic of the biographer's art' Sunday TimesThe untold story of Britain's most mysterious mountaineering legend - Maurice Wilson - and his heroic attempt to climb Everest. Alone.

In the 1930s, as official government expeditions set their sights on conquering Everest, a little-known World War I...