In reply to alistair musgrove:
There are chapters in Bonatti's 'Mountains of my life' that recount some of the tragedies on the mountain. notably the attempt on the central pillar of Freney on the Italian side.
He also made some ground breaking ascents else where in the greater massive on for example the Grandes Jorrases and Les Drus some with partners and others solo.
Lionel Tearry done a fair bit of stuff also although it's been some time since I read 'Conquistadors of the useless' so I cant be any more specific than that.
There's also an updated version of the already mentioned '100 finest routes' that is well worth looking at
http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=5777
Post edited at 13:21