Mitchell Zuckoff was conducting research for a book project when he stumbled upon a compelling headline from a Chicago newspaper. The dateline was 1945. Zuckoff was so astonished by this newspaper story that he read
that day that he dropped everything and began working on what became another book instead; "Lost in Shangri-La: a True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II."
This is the story of a tragic plane crash in 1945 near the end of WWII. A group of military personnel, men and women, were on a sight-seeing flight over a remote valley in New Guinea. Then something went wrong. The plane crashed into the mountainside. There were only three survivors. Two of them were badly hurt.
These three made it down to the valley floor and encountered Stone Age tribes. This is an amazing saga of endurance, courage, and inventiveness. The hero of the story lived in the Dayton area for many years. Zuckoff's
fortunate discovery of that newspaper clipping led to the publication of a story that might have been forgotten. And this one was simply unforgettable. The book became a best-seller.