Download Lost in ShangriLa A True Story of Survival Adventure and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II Audible Audio Edition Mitchell Zuckoff HarperAudio Books
Download As PDF : Lost in ShangriLa A True Story of Survival Adventure and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II Audible Audio Edition Mitchell Zuckoff HarperAudio Books
On May 13, 1945, 24 American servicemen and WACs boarded a transport plane for a sightseeing trip over "Shangri-La," a beautiful and mysterious valley deep within the jungle-covered mountains of Dutch New Guinea .Unlike the peaceful Tibetan monks of James Hilton's best-selling novel Lost Horizon, , this Shangri-La was home to spear-carrying tribesmen, warriors rumored to be cannibals.
But the pleasure tour became an unforgettable battle for survival when the plane crashed. Miraculously, three passengers pulled through. Margaret Hastings, barefoot and burned, had no choice but to wear her dead best friend's shoes. John McCollom, grieving the death of his twin brother also aboard the plane, masked his grief with stoicism. Kenneth Decker, too, was severely burned and suffered a gaping head wound.
Emotionally devastated, badly injured, and vulnerable to the hidden dangers of the jungle, the trio faced certain death unless they left the crash site. Caught between man-eating headhunters and enemy Japanese, the wounded passengers endured a harrowing hike down the mountainside - a journey into the unknown that would lead them straight into a primitive tribe of superstitious natives who had never before seen a white man - or woman.
Drawn from interviews, declassified U.S. Army documents, personal photos and mementos, a survivor's diary, a rescuer's journal, and original film footage, Lost in Shangri-La recounts this incredible true-life adventure for the first time. Mitchell Zuckoff reveals how the determined trio - dehydrated, sick, and in pain - traversed the dense jungle to find help; how a brave band of paratroopers risked their own lives to save the survivors; and how a cowboy colonel attempted a previously untested rescue mission to get them out.
By trekking into the New Guinea jungle, visiting remote villages, and rediscovering the crash site, Zuckoff also captures the contemporary natives' remembrances of the long-ago day when strange creatures fell from the sky. A riveting work of narrative nonfiction that vividly brings to life an odyssey at times terrifying, enlightening, and comic, Lost in Shangri-La is a thrill ride from beginning to end.
Download Lost in ShangriLa A True Story of Survival Adventure and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II Audible Audio Edition Mitchell Zuckoff HarperAudio Books
"I couldn't put it down, check the valley area on your tablet and the story really comes to life. I had my iPad next to the book. The Shangri-La Valley is pretty easy to find, it's so isolated. There's an air strip there now, so they've been in touch with the outside world for awhile now.
Just after the crash, I couldn't get the story out of my head, so I had to finish it fast... Excellent, unforgettable book!"
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Lost in ShangriLa A True Story of Survival Adventure and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II Audible Audio Edition Mitchell Zuckoff HarperAudio Books Reviews :
Lost in ShangriLa A True Story of Survival Adventure and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II Audible Audio Edition Mitchell Zuckoff HarperAudio Books Reviews
- This book describes a real event during the island-hopping phase of WW2 in the Pacific. In the steep mountains of New Guinea, a hidden valley was home to a large population of natives who had no knowledge of the world beyond the valley--until it was spotted from the air by fliers stationed at air fields along the coast. Soon, the valley was the destination of sight-seeing flights, but these only flew over, the valley having no place for a safe air field, and the rim of the valley being near the altitude limit of the available aircraft. To reach the valley, the planes had to fly a twisted path through passes in the mountains. One day, an officer decides to reward his staff, including a number of WACs, with a trip to see the valley in a C47. Then the trouble starts! The pilot is the only one who is familiar with the complex route , and he soon is distracted by socializing with the passengers, leaving the plane to an inexperienced co-pilot. They fail to clear a ridge, and the result is a fiery crash. There are 3 survivors, two of whom have serious injuries. This book is the story of how they survived and finally got home, To do so, they had to make their location, well off the intended course, known to searchers; deal with their medical needs; and deal with the natives, who vastly out number them, and for whom the chief entertainment is war among their numerous clans! This book is well written, and can be read as an real-life adventure story. It is also a cautionary tale of how a pilot's inattention can lead to disaster. Reading the accident reports that appear in Aviation Week, it appears that this still has not been fully learned.
- I couldn't put it down, check the valley area on your tablet and the story really comes to life. I had my iPad next to the book. The Shangri-La Valley is pretty easy to find, it's so isolated. There's an air strip there now, so they've been in touch with the outside world for awhile now.
Just after the crash, I couldn't get the story out of my head, so I had to finish it fast... Excellent, unforgettable book! - Living history at its greatest. This is an incredible story, a tribute to all those involved, and a fascinating study in the cultural collision between Western Civilization and a tribe of South Pacific islanders not very far removed from the Stone Age. Well written and obviously well researched, this is an account of a little known tempest in a remote corner of the proverbial teapot that was WWII in the Pacific. Perhaps the author's most significant achievement is his ability to tell this story in a relaxed and easily understood way while bringing to the fore in vivid mental images, the lush and unforgiving landscape, the nature and culture of the Dani people, as well as all the danger, fear, loss, uncertainty, courage, determination, and strength of will evidenced in this remarkable story.
- This offering is filled with drama, the characters of this book HAD to live! Each scene, every chapter was a part of their lives, written on their souls! Now we, living in the 21 st century get to vicariously experience a small portion, of what it must have been like for them!
I found myself reading when I should have been asleep. I haven't done that since I was a child, hiding under the covers, reading by the dull glow of the flashlight, praying my mom wouldn't catch me, at least not until I finished the next chapter! She usually caught me!
Anyway, there's much to admire about these people, native and military, and the writer gives each person a complete fleshing out.
Even the smallest detail, culled from old records, or a personal recollection was given its own liveliness.
It took true grit to survive the incredible ordeal that was thrust upon them. They not only survived, they triumphed!
The most poignant of all the scenes portrayed, is the solemn funeral service held in air.
Not only did I thoroughly enjoy this book, I liked it so much, I sent it to a loved one as a present. - This book is different from the mystery novels I usually favor. A true story of the rescue of survivors of a military plane crash in New Guinea at the end of WWII. The author fills in so much background info of the main subjects of this event, along with historical information and a broad and fascinating story of the land and native people. Having been a military wife for 24 years, I appreciated the hardship and sacrifices made by all those involved and thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
- High in the mountains of New Guinea, lay a valley hidden from the world. The people there had lived for lifetimes secluded from the rest of the world. In 1945, they were "discovered" by a U.S. plane. When another plane filled with army personnel on a sightseeing flight crashed a few weeks later, the army had to come up with a way to get the survivors back home. Unable to land a plane, too dangerous to hike out, the only way to help the wounded was to send paratroopers in. They knew going in, though, that there was no clear exit strategy. I really appreciated all the anecdotes the author included, both tragic and humorous, that made this an enjoyable and interesting read.
- I first got this book on my , but I wanted my brother to read it, so I bought the book for him. He also read "13 hours" by this author, also an excellent story. I had the best time reading this and the pictures of the people involved made me feel like I knew them personally. The rescue was so difficult for the time, it was amazing how much thought had to go into what nowadays would be fairly easy. I highly recommend this true story.
