Douglas Preston's "The Lost City of the Monkey God": A Fascinating True Story

BYZ: Preston is a great writers who does his research and can tell a story. I recommend this book.

United States on Dec 09, 2023

Michael E. Farrell: The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston tells the story of solving a 500 year archeological mystery in the 32,000 square mile La Mosquitia rainforest in Honduras, also known as the Portal del Inferno (Gates of Hell).

The author was a correspondent from National Geographic magazine accompanying the archeological team to document the search for The Lost City of the Monkey God.

This is one of the most dangerous areas in the world and still remains not totally scientifically investigated.

There had been rumors of a lost civilization located in the Mosquitia rainforest for over 500 years, with local legends of a lost city built of white stone referred to as Cuidad Blanca (White City), but also called The Lost City of the Monkey God. This last name is the result of legends of a giant statue of monkey god resting on a pedestal in this city.

Several attempts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries produced no positive results; however, in 2010, the team trying to find Cuidad Blanca heard of a new technology, LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) that had been successfully used to map the Maya city of Caracol in Belize. Believing this may be the...

United States on Apr 28, 2023

Susan Carter: The Lost City of the Monkey God was an extremely good book, it contained true stories of expeditions to the lost city, aka the white city in Honduras. Douglass Preston did a phenomenal job of providing detailed accounts of what happened on the expeditions and what happened after them. Preston writes about Theodore Morde and how he traveled up the Patuca river to find the “location” of the lost city. He did not actually find it due to later expeditions to the same area. The book speaks of the later expeditions as well how they tried to mine the tributaries for gold, the artifacts found and look for surviving temples like the Mayans had left. It was concluded the people of the lost city left in a rush due to extreme amounts of artifacts being found but never a city only mound, which the explorers believe was part of their architecture. I really loved how Preston steered off from the city and to the real danger that explorers faced. It took away the false Indiana Jones persona of archeology. The author talks about the diseases special to the Mosquitia jungle such as Leishmania braziliensis which the crew and author of the book caught while there. It was a little boring toward the...

United States on May 19, 2022

Valerie E: Meticulous detail of the search and circumstances surrounding the expedition, and the aftermath. Exciting adventure story, even though not my usual taste in books.

United Kingdom on Mar 13, 2022

Amazon Customer: This book is a treasure for all those who are mystified by ancient civilization. Being a history buff, I couldn’t put down this book and was thrilled to learn how nature has the power to preserve ancient cultures. I wouldn’t be surprised if a decade later, anthropologists stumble upon another civilization. I have been to Machu Picchu and visited the pyramids of the Mayas in Mexico and have already started hatching a plan to visit Honduras in a decade (hopefully it will be safe and all the cache will be ready for public to see).

Another interesting fact from this book is the eerie similarity between the current pandemic situation and disease of the Old/New world. I wouldn’t spill the beans but honestly I wasn’t surprised by the prediction how pandemics are inevitable. Global warming is one of the biggest contributors of pandemics.

Canada on Oct 04, 2020

Pat: Vicenda archeologica un po’ romanzata. In ogni momento sembra che si prepari il colpo di scena che in realtà non arriva mai.

Italy on Dec 29, 2019

Marcie Romano: You never know what he's going to say, as it's the real experience of a real journey and not structured like a novel. I found it all fascinating and enjoyed the read tremendously, even though of course so much of it is sad, as is the destruction of our planet, but it's not dwelling on that nor hiding from it either. It's honest reporting and so interesting.

India on Dec 08, 2018

Pedro López: Resultó mejor de lo que esperaba, la narración de los eventos es muy buena, mantiene el interés, el contenido es bastante interesante, pues toca diversos campos.
Narra la historia de una expedición a una región poco explorada de Honduras en busca de una ciudad pérdida de una cultura vecina a la maya.
La expedición ocurrió en el 2015, así que tal vez sea pronto para esperar conclusiones definitivas en este libro.
Sin embargo, el autor tiene bastante material que ofrecer respecto a todo lo que ocurrió para que dicha expedición pudiera llevarse a cabo.

Mexico on Dec 07, 2018