The Lost City of the Monkey God, Douglas Preston
The Lost City of the Monkey God, Douglas Preston
50 Rating(s)
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
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The Lost City of the Monkey God
A True Story

Bestseller

Author: Douglas Preston

Narrator: Bill Mumy

Unabridged: 10 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/03/2017

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis



The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, named one of the best books of the year by The Boston Globe and National Geographic: acclaimed journalist Douglas Preston takes readers on a true adventure deep into the Honduran rainforest in this riveting narrative about the discovery of a lost civilization -- culminating in a stunning medical mystery.


Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and they warn that anyone who enters this sacred city will fall ill and die. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having found the Lost City of the Monkey God-but then committed suicide without revealing its location.

Three quarters of a century later, bestselling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a rickety, single-engine plane carrying the machine that would change everything: lidar, a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but an enigmatic, lost civilization.

Venturing into this raw, treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful wilderness to confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. But it wasn't until they returned that tragedy struck: Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal-and incurable-disease.

Suspenseful and shocking, filled with colorful history, hair-raising adventure, and dramatic twists of fortune, THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century.

Author Bio

Douglas Preston is the author of more than thirty books, both fiction and nonfiction, more than twenty of which have been New York Times bestsellers. He has worked as an editor at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University. His first novel, Relic, coauthored with Lincoln Child, was made into a movie, and launched the famed Pendergast series of novels. His recent nonfiction book, The Monster of Florence, is also being made into a film. In addition to books, Preston writes about archaeology and paleontology for the New Yorker, National Geographic, and Smithsonian.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jeffrey on January 09, 2021

”I peered out the window, transfixed. I can scarcely find words to describe the opulence of the rainforest that unrolled below us. The tree crowns were packed together like puffballs, displaying every possible hue, tint, and shade of green. Chartreuse, emerald, lime, aquamarine, teal, bottle, glauco......more

Goodreads review by jv on December 26, 2024

This was about so much more than the Lost City--it was packed with information, presented in a palatable way and even tone. I feel stupidly excited by how much I learned and how incredibly interested I was in absolutely every facet of this discovery and the ripple effect of the exploration itself.......more

Goodreads review by Miranda on May 22, 2021

3.5 stars!People need history in order to know themselves, to build a sense of identity and pride, continuity, community, and hope for the future. The White City (aka the Lost City of the Monkey God) was a legend...until now. For the last 500 years, rumors have flooded every major news outlet..........more

Goodreads review by Matthew on July 20, 2018

Fascinating and terrifying! A non-ficton story about pre-history, history, and the lessons it teaches us about our potential mortality. A cautionary tale that we may have no control over; the fate of ancient civilizations may hint at our eventual fate as well. Doulas Preston always impresses. I am a......more

Goodreads review by J.L. on February 02, 2022

“People need history in order to know themselves, to build a sense of identity and pride, continuity, community, and hope for the future.” In The Lost City of the Monkey God, Douglas Preston presents an engaging account of an expedition setting out to (re)discover a lost city in the jungles of Hondu......more