The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story [L0124]

2017 HCDJ in nice clean condition. A five-hundred-year-old legend. An ancient curse. A stunning medical mystery. And a pioneering journey into the unknown heart of the world's densest jungle. 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. 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.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "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."; "Great nonfiction storytelling. Eye-opening and insightful. Written just a few years before the COVID pandemic, this book couldn't have been more timely. Touches on the ever-prevalent topic of mass die-offs caused by disease. I found myself cringing and shuddering throughout. Keeps you hooked. It makes you ponder about just how fragile our civilization truly is. Recommended. This will occupy space in my mind for years to come."; "The book is riveting, not only for its detailing Lidar, a laser imaging technology used in archeological exploration, but also for the foraging for facts indicating the presence of a 'lost city' buried in an impenetrable jungle, and for the questions raised regarding the origins and outcome of an unidentified and completely vanished people."