• Lost in Shangri-La

  • A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II
  • By: Mitchell Zuckoff
  • Narrated by: Mitchell Zuckoff
  • Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (2,592 ratings)

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Lost in Shangri-La  By  cover art

Lost in Shangri-La

By: Mitchell Zuckoff
Narrated by: Mitchell Zuckoff
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Editorial reviews

Lost In Shangri- La by Mitchell Zuckoff is a blockbuster tale Hollywood couldn’t better. An American military plane crashes in an uncharted and barely accessible part of New Guinea leaving only three survivors, one of them a brave and fetching blonde member of the Women’s Army Corps. The survivors and natives share a fascinating rapprochement, despite the tribe’s propensity to war.

Zuckoff tells the tale with an unusual focus on the personalities randomly thrust together and the collision of stunningly different worlds. His writing and delivery let the drama speak for itself: his mellow voice and almost conversational style avoids histrionics at the climactic moments, yet still conveys the characters’ emotional journeys.

Events take off, literally in 1945 in Dutch New Guinea, where Americans still at war with the Japanese were stationed. Twenty-four soldiers and members of the Women’s Army Corps are treated by their boss to a recreational flight over “Shangri-La”, a storied part of the island recently discovered.

Flying over a narrow valley on the mountainous island (which had already foundered 600 planes during the war), treacherous terrain and human error result in the crash, killing all but three on board: Corporal Margaret Hastings, a 30-year-old WAC enlistee from upstate New York, who sustained leg burns; Sergeant Kenneth Decker, whose stoicism wasn’t fully realized until the severity of his wounds were discovered days later, and, finally, Lieutenant John McCollom who, while physically the heartiest, was arguably the most wounded, having left the remains of his twin brother in the wreckage.

Zuckoff sensitively narrates the travails of the immediate aftermath when the trio, living on scant water and hard candies, drag themselves through the jungle to a clearing where they will be more visible to search planes.

But they are first spotted by natives, fierce-looking and, for all the survivors know, cannibals. Drawing heavily on Margaret’s diary, Zuckoff seems to share the sense of wonder, as well as the initial condescension, curiosity, and fear shared by the survivors. And, through his research with the tribesmen and their progeny about the long-ago event, he helps us grasp the culture and reactions of the tribe, who believed the survivors to be gods or spirits of death to be honored. The tribe’s almost religious commitment to making war makes the relationships that grew between the two groups that much more remarkable. Margaret and a regal, gracious tribeswoman find a deep bond, with nary a comprehensible word between them.

After five weeks together, the rescue operation is ready. Zuckoff sets it up with all the challenges of logistics and aeronautic risks, telling a heart-stopping narrative from the arrival of paratroopers through the seemingly doomed attempts to “snatch” the survivors to safety.

For all the swashbuckling, exotic appeal of this historic episode, the most moving sections were the intimacies Zuckoff sought out from the survivors and shares here like secret, treasured knowledge the snippets of letters sent home; details of families’ idiosyncrasies, and especially, the fascinatingly ordinary lives the survivors lived out, after the event Zuckoff reveals in all its extraordinariness. Elly Schull Meeks

Publisher's summary

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.

©2011 Mitchell Zuckoff (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Lost in Shangri-La

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Best use of a credit in quite a whlle.

Very good story. I enjoyed hearing the viewpoints of the New Guinea natives some 60 years after the event. Don't let the fact that the auithor narrates the book scare you away - he does an excellant job.

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33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I'm Intrigued by other reviews

This is not they type of book I typically choose, but the description sounded interesting and I'm glad I gave it a try.
I was really engaged by this story. I imagined what it must have been like to be a survivor of a plane crash in such a remote place. The amount of bravery and strength it took for these survivors to persevere was just miraculous.
I too agree that there was a racist tone at least initially, but I also appreciate the growth expressed by the survivors. It can't be ignored that the survivors came to befriend the tribal members and that they came to truly respect their strength, kindness, creativity and intelligence.
I also felt Mr. Zuckoff conveyed a great amount of sensitivity and insight towards the autonomy of the tribe. I was moved by how sadly he explained that the ways of modern world have now negatively impacted these previously self-sufficient happy peoples.
I thought that this story was terrific on many levels.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not as interesting as I would have thought

This is a straightforward historical account of an unusual event at the end of WWII. The facts are clearly laid out and the story is well crafted but somehow it misses the mark and fails to engage. I had to give up 2/3 of the way through due to boredom and a tendency to feel extremely sleepy whenever I listened. Sorry but it's true. Should/could have been fascinating but not for me!

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding Read!

Where does Lost in Shangri-La rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I'd rank this book very high--probably in the top ten for sure.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Lost in Shangri-La?

I loved the way the author put me on the edge of my seat with deliberate tension as he recreated the events in the book--particularly the plain crash and then the glider rescue.

Have you listened to any of Mitchell Zuckoff’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I like the current title.

Any additional comments?

Nope.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Book and Very Well Read

This is a very interesting story that easily reads like a novel. It is very well written and very well read. The story has a cast of compelling characters and the author does a good job of developing their individual stories. As a 20th century history buff and particularly WWII, I was quite surprised that I had never heard of this survival story. I hated for the story to end. The author reads the book and I can say without a doubt that he is better than 90% of the professional readers I listen to on other audio books. This book would make an excellent movie. If I knew how to do it, I would contact Steven Speilberg and recommend he look into making it into a movie.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Would be a great yarn, but even better: it's TRUE.

Would you listen to Lost in Shangri-La again? Why?

I've already listened to it twice.

Any additional comments?

An odd but interesting bit of WWII history.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A good yarn

Any additional comments?

Listen to this on a trip from Las Cruces to Dallas and back for Christmas. I picked this book because my in-laws were with us and I wanted something we would all be interested in and a book we could finish on the trip (without having to listen non-stop).

This turned out to be a great choice. Everyone enjoyed the narration by the author. My father-in-law who listens to a LOT of audio books said he thought this was one of the best narrations he's heard. The pacing of the story is great. Zuckoff provides enough background information on the characters to understand both how they got to New Guinea and what their motivations are. The presentation is dramatic without sliding into melodrama. There is a bit of foreshadowing, but just enough keep the story going without getting annoying.



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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Ok

Story was kind of ok, nothing to write home about, better survival stories out there

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An Incridible true story

Would you listen to Lost in Shangri-La again? Why?

Yes, the story was compelling, and the description of the people and the description of the jungle was done extremely well.

What about Mitchell Zuckoff’s performance did you like?

He has a great voice with good inflection, he reads his story with passion..

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

You can't make up a story like this.

Any additional comments?

This is a great book for all of those history and world war too buffs, it has everything a good novel has, and it is all true. My father served in the army during world war 2 and was stationed on New Guinea that was what originally attracted me to reading this true story, I was not disappointed and have recommended this book to everybody I know.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I am discovering that history is interesting!

Interesting, factual and sad (why do we feel compelled to ruin perfectly good societies just because they are not like ours?)

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1 person found this helpful