Download PDF The Lost City of the Monkey God A True Story Douglas Preston 9781455540013 Books
Download As PDF : The Lost City of the Monkey God A True Story Douglas Preston 9781455540013 Books
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.
Download PDF The Lost City of the Monkey God A True Story Douglas Preston 9781455540013 Books
"Having been fortunate enough to travel to Central America to see the Mayan ruins at Copan, Tikal, Coba, and Chichen Itza I really connected with this story. The basic story line (based on true events) is about the discovery of the long lost "City of the Monkey God" (AKA "White City", etc.) after failed attempts during the 19th and 20th centuries. A technology breakthrough in radar, through combining of Laser and Radar technologies, finally enabled explorers/archeologists to "see" through the dense tropical jungle of central Honduras and see evidence of man-made structures, plazas, and other features that literally would have been next to impossible in "on the ground" expeditions. With support of the Honduran government, the U.S. led multi-national team uses helicopters to get to the site and make discoveries of artifacts. Without adequate time (or funding, or the ability to endure the dangers (disease, wild animals, pests, etc.) of the jungle) they make only two short trips (a couple of weeks each), and while no pyramids or dwellings are uncovered, they focus on the finding of a huge cache of highly valuable (archeologically and financially) carved items, vessels, altars, and other rare items. These two expeditions, and the planning activities leading up to them, comprise the bulk of the story. The follow-on is the formation of an organized Honduran national effort to protect and explore the find. Unfortunately, about half of the original team comes down with a rare tropical disease (internal parasites - ugh!) which can only be treated in a few locations around the world, and the treatment has painful side effects and only mitigates the disease without totally curing it. Also, the academic Archeological community is highly critical of the expeditions, terming them as more "Indiana Jones" adventuring than true 'on the ground' Archeological work. Nevertheless, the find is historic, and helps to shed light on the rather sudden demise and disappearance of the once mighty and numerous Latin American cultures. I found it a fascinating read (a page turner) and also very enlightening and educational. While many of us (at some point in our lives) probably dreamed of archeological and/or jungle adventure, this book opens your eyes to the dangers involved. Highly recommend."
Product details
|
Tags : The Lost City of the Monkey God A True Story [Douglas Preston] on . <style type= text/css > p.p1 {margin 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font 11.0px Times} </style> <style type= text/css > p.p1 {margin 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font 12.0px 'Times New Roman'} </style> </br></br><b>The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller,Douglas Preston,The Lost City of the Monkey God A True Story,Grand Central Publishing,1455540013,Expeditions Discoveries,Latin America - Central America,Cities and towns, Ancient - Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras),Extinct cities - Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras),Extinct cities;Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras).,Indians of Central America - Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras) - Antiquities,Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras) - Antiquities,Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras) - Description and travel,Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras) - Discovery and exploration,Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras);Description and travel.,Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras);Discovery and exploration.,Preston, Douglas J - Travel - Mosquita (Nicaragua and Honduras),Books history bestsellers; jungle adventure books; books like lost city of z; writers like david grann; true adventure stories; books like hot zone; indiana jones; nonfiction adventure books; new york times notable books; books ancient curses; archeology books; archaeological discoveries; history ancient treasures; rainforest adventure; lost civilization; medical mystery; central american mythology; white city,CENTRAL AMERICA - HISTORY,Cities and towns, Ancient - Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras),DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION (GENERAL),Expeditions Discoveries,Extinct cities - Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras),Extinct cities;Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras).,GENERAL,General Adult,HISTORY / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies),HISTORY / Expeditions Discoveries,HISTORY / Latin America / Central America,History,History/Latin America - Central America,History/Native American,History/World,History World,Honduras,Indians of Central America - Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras) - Antiquities,Latin America - Central America,Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras) - Antiquities,Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras) - Description and travel,Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras) - Discovery and exploration,Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras);Description and travel.,Mosquitia (Nicaragua and Honduras);Discovery and exploration.,Non-Fiction,PRESTON, DOUGLAS - PROSE CRITICISM,Preston, Douglas J - Travel - Mosquita (Nicaragua and Honduras),Social Science/Archaeology,indiana jones; Books history bestsellers; jungle adventure books; books like lost city of z; writers like david grann; true adventure stories; books like hot zone; nonfiction adventure books; new york times notable books; books ancient curses; archeology books; archaeological discoveries; history ancient treasures; rainforest adventure; lost civilization; medical mystery; central american mythology; white city,HISTORY / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies),HISTORY / Expeditions Discoveries,HISTORY / Latin America / Central America,History/Latin America - Central America,History/Native American,Social Science/Archaeology,Central America - History,Discovery And Exploration (General),History,History World
The Lost City of the Monkey God A True Story Douglas Preston 9781455540013 Books Reviews :
The Lost City of the Monkey God A True Story Douglas Preston 9781455540013 Books Reviews
- Having been fortunate enough to travel to Central America to see the Mayan ruins at Copan, Tikal, Coba, and Chichen Itza I really connected with this story. The basic story line (based on true events) is about the discovery of the long lost "City of the Monkey God" (AKA "White City", etc.) after failed attempts during the 19th and 20th centuries. A technology breakthrough in radar, through combining of Laser and Radar technologies, finally enabled explorers/archeologists to "see" through the dense tropical jungle of central Honduras and see evidence of man-made structures, plazas, and other features that literally would have been next to impossible in "on the ground" expeditions. With support of the Honduran government, the U.S. led multi-national team uses helicopters to get to the site and make discoveries of artifacts. Without adequate time (or funding, or the ability to endure the dangers (disease, wild animals, pests, etc.) of the jungle) they make only two short trips (a couple of weeks each), and while no pyramids or dwellings are uncovered, they focus on the finding of a huge cache of highly valuable (archeologically and financially) carved items, vessels, altars, and other rare items. These two expeditions, and the planning activities leading up to them, comprise the bulk of the story. The follow-on is the formation of an organized Honduran national effort to protect and explore the find. Unfortunately, about half of the original team comes down with a rare tropical disease (internal parasites - ugh!) which can only be treated in a few locations around the world, and the treatment has painful side effects and only mitigates the disease without totally curing it. Also, the academic Archeological community is highly critical of the expeditions, terming them as more "Indiana Jones" adventuring than true 'on the ground' Archeological work. Nevertheless, the find is historic, and helps to shed light on the rather sudden demise and disappearance of the once mighty and numerous Latin American cultures. I found it a fascinating read (a page turner) and also very enlightening and educational. While many of us (at some point in our lives) probably dreamed of archeological and/or jungle adventure, this book opens your eyes to the dangers involved. Highly recommend.
- This is NOT a book authored by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child that continues the adventures of Special Agent A. Pendergast and his unique circle of friends and assorted characters. However this is an intriguing and very interesting documentary written by Douglas Preston that takes you inside the planning and execution of a continual search for a mythical lost city (and/or civilization) that until 2015 remained nothing more than rumor and myth(s). It is NOT an "Indiana Jones" novel and is all the more compelling for avoiding that type of embellishment and drama. You won't find a photograph of Harrison Ford inside the dust jacket but you will see a grinning shot of Douglas Preston bearing an uncanny resemblance to the (deceased) actor Edward Herrmann.
Don't underestimate what is encountered and accomplished in this journey, several real-life challenges arise and have to be effectively and efficiently dealt with. This undiscovered Honduran city/civilization has remained hidden for hundreds of years for several good reasons. A combination of legends and myths, some completely false and yet others bearing an element of truth, have circulated about this area, both intriguing and cautioning researchers and potential explorers. "Ground breaking" technology (pun intended) becomes available that can help pinpoint the potential discovery of this area, but nothing beats 'boots on the ground' to prove and establish its existence.
If you order this book, don't expect a fast-moving adventure tale that uses various hooks and literary schemes to reel you in. Instead expect a logical and relatively full picture of how research is conducted, expeditions planned, and the real-life difficulties and dangers encountered. Douglas Preston presents a well-documented journey, including maps and photographs, of the main characters and the steps taken to both justify and undertake this complicated and difficult exploration. Mr. Preston's writing makes it easy to imagine yourself as part of this exploratory party -- and raises the question of "is it really worth it"? For as physics class taught us in high school "every action results in an opposite and equal reaction". Some of the reactions in this story are extremely fearful -- to say the least. This particular exploration gives new meaning to the phrase "the gift that keeps on giving". Sometimes it might be better to let 'sleeping dogs lie'.
Read it and enjoy it for what it is. The "Comments" sections are loaded with arguments and accusations concerning several aspects of the story, with occasional heated discussions breaking out. However, reading them and trying to interpret who is (at least) partially correct and/or accurate is sort of like watching confirmed liberals and conservatives hurling 'slings and arrows' at each other while failing to agree on anything. Great book though! - The story starts off well and by and large moves apace and is interesting for the most part. As the author takes us through the history of the search for Cuidad Blanca, the ride keeps your interest. When the actual exploration begins you are keenly engaged in the search, and the author keeps your interest throughout. The largest critique is that the exploration phase of the book is short lived. The end of the book is largely a long description of infectious disease and a reiteration of the story of the Europeans bringing disease to the New World, and frankly gets a little tedious. Overall a good read and a good story.
- I'm a big fan of the Preston & Child books, but I didn't know what to expect of Doug Preston as a journalist. After reading this, I think he's at least as talented with non-fiction as he is as a novelist. This book is terrific. It's a great story, and he manages to make it feel exciting, creating a nice sense of suspense thought the first 2/3 of the book. Most of the last 1/3 is fairly technical material related to medicine, but he communicates this material in a very reader-friendly manner. Bill Bryson is the master of this, but Preston here is nearly as skilled.
