Jungleland: A Mysterious Lost City and a True Story of Deadly Adventure [9780061802553]

Overview

For fans of The Lost City of Z, The River of Doubt, and Lost in Shangri-La—a real-life Indiana Jones story, set in the mysterious jungles of Honduras.

"I began to daydream about the jungle...."

On April 6, 1940, explorer and future World War II spy Theodore Morde (who would one day attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler), anxious about the perilous journey that lay ahead of him.

Deep inside “the little Amazon,” the jungles of Honduras’s Mosquito Coast—one of the largest, wildest, and most impenetrable stretches of tropical land in the world—lies the fabled city of Ciudad Blanca: the White City. For centuries, it has lured explorers, including Spanish conquistador Herman Cortes. Some intrepid souls got lost within its dense canopy; some disappeared. Others never made it out alive. Then, in 1939, Theodore Morde claimed that he had located this El Dorado-like city. Yet before he revealed its location, Morde died under strange circumstances, giving credence to those who believe that the spirits of the Ciudad Blanca killed him.

In Jungleland, Christopher S. Stewart seeks to retrace Morde's steps and answer the questions his death left hanging. Is this lost city real or only a tantalyzing myth? What secrets does the jungle hold? What continues to draw explorers into the unknown jungleland at such terrific risk? In this absorbing true-life thriller, journalist Christopher S. Stewart sets out to find answers—a white-knuckle adventure that combines Morde’s wild, enigmatic tale with Stewart’s own epic journey to find the truth about the White City.

What does it take to solve a decades-old mystery when the jungle itself is the enemy?

• A Spy's Secret: Uncover the story of Theodore Morde, a real-life explorer and WWII spy who claimed to find the fabled White City—only to die mysteriously before revealing its location.
• The Lost City: Follow the centuries-old legend of Ciudad Blanca, an El Dorado-like metropolis deep in the Honduran jungle that has lured explorers to their doom for generations.
• Two Dangerous Journeys: Experience a gripping parallel narrative as author Christopher S. Stewart retraces Morde's perilous 1940 expedition, facing the same dangers in his own modern-day quest for the truth.
• True Adventure: Journey into the Mosquito Coast, one of the most impenetrable jungles in Central America, in a raw and personal account of survival against the odds.