My goal is to read 52 books in 2012. Good or bad, as I read, I will be reviewing the books here. Be sure to leave a comment and tell me about your favorite books!
Lost in Shangri-la by Mitchell Zuckoff
(Book overview found on Goodreads.com)
“A lost world, man-eating tribesmen, lush and impenetrable jungles, stranded American fliers (one of them “a dame with great gams,” for heaven’s sake), a startling rescue mission. . . . This is a true story made in heaven for a writer as talented as Mitchell Zuckoff. Whew–what an utterly compelling and deeply satisfying read ” –Simon Winchester, author of “Atlantic” “.
Award-winning former “Boston Globe” reporter Mitchell Zuckoff unleashes the exhilarating, untold story of an extraordinary World War II rescue mission, where a plane crash in the South Pacific plunged a trio of U.S. military personnel into a land that time forgot. Fans of Hampton Sides’ “Ghost Soldiers,” Marcus Luttrell’s “Lone Survivor,” and David Grann’s “The Lost City of Z “will be captivated by Zuckoff’s masterfully recounted, all-true story of danger, daring, determination, and discovery in jungle-clad New Guinea during the final days of WWII.
My Thoughts…
Lost in Shangri-la by Mitchell Zuckoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
If you enjoy books about historical events then you will love this book. This is an amazing and TRUE story written about a plane that goes down with 24 servicemen and WAC’s in 1945 in the mountainous jungle of Dutch New Guinea. Because 1945 technology limits the ability for rescue troops to navigate the high mountain terrain to reach the three survivors. The three survivors are left, injured and hungry, to navigate the terrain, the jungle and the natives in this unexplored territory for nearly seven weeks before they are rescued.
What was so amazing to me about this book was the amount of thorough research that the author Mitchell Zuckoff did in order to write this story so accurately. I also loved how he wove each new character into the story!
I gave the book four stars because while the crash and the rescue were so expertly covered I was really interested to learn more about how life went on for the three survivors and their rescuers after the fact. While there lives were covered briefly in an epilogue I really wanted to know more. The story built very dramatically and they were rescued in a dramatic way and then it was over. I’d like to think there was more to the story than just that. This story doesn’t really end on June 28, 1945.
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