Lost in Shangri-La

On May 13, 1945, a would-be pleasure tour for twenty-four U.S. Army servicemen and WACs turned into an unforgettable battle for survival when their plane crashed into the mysterious New Guinean valley known as "Shangri-La." Only three emerged from the wreckage. Emotionally devastated and badly injured, they faced certain death unless they braved a harrowing hike down the mountainside-a journey into the unknown that would lead them to a primitive tribe of superstitious natives who had never before seen a white man-or woman. Drawing upon interviews, diaries, declassified documents, and his own treks to the remote villages of New Guinea, Mitchell Zuckoff reveals how the determined trio traversed the dense jungle to find help, how a brave band of paratroopers risked their lives to rescue them, and how contemporary natives remember that long-ago day when strange creatures fell from the sky. Lost in Shangri-La is a riveting work of narrative nonfiction-and a thrill ride from beginning to end.