Mike Lewis, who writes 19-century historical fiction in the first person with the aim of putting the reader 'in the moment', has just published his new novel about the tragic first ascent of the Matterhorn in July 1865. The Icarus Ascent: Ghosts of the Matterhorn is the 'inside story' of one of mountaineering's most notorious disasters which claimed the lives of four of Edward Whymper's men shortly after they had conquered 'The Impossible Mountain'. Told in a timeline on the countdown to tragedy, the novel relates what happened from the differing perspectives of each of the seven-man party. A lifelong newspaper and multi-media journalist, Mike hails from west Wales, where his family have farmed for generations. Having joined his local newspaper straight from school, he proceeded to work on a number of national titles in London. A lifelong rock and pop music fan, in the 1990s he co-authored biographies on Scott Walker and Syd Barrett, of Pink Floyd. An amateur boxing coach, Mike later worked as The Sunday Telegraph boxing correspondent, covering the Beijing Olympic Games of 2008. His debut novel ‘If God Will Spare My Life…’ - based on the true story of the Welsh farmer's son who fought at the Battle of the Little Bighorn - was published by Victorina Press in 2021. His second novel, The Icarus Ascent: Ghosts of the Matterhorn (Next Chapter Publishing) re-imagines events surrounding the 1865 fall on the Matterhorn through the eyes of Whymper’s ill-fated party.