Italian writer and mountain climber Reinhold Messner was the first man to summit Mt. Everest without the use of oxygen and the first to solo it.  Among his books are, Free Spirit, A Climbers Life; My Quest for Yeti; The Crystal Horizon; Everest-The First Solo Ascent; Annapurna: 50 Years of Expeditions in the Death Zone;  The Second Death of George Mallory, and K2.