Lost in Tibet
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Flying 'the Hump'
First Americans in Lhasa
British Mission in Lhasa
Chinese Mission in Lhasa
Tibetan independence
Chinese invasion
The Dalai Lama
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Richard Starks
Miriam Murcutt
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Along The River
that Flows Uphill
Lost in Tibet
by Richard Starks and Miriam Murcutt
Lost in Tibet is a non-fiction, action-adventure book set in pre-Chinese Tibet. It tells the story of five US airmen who, in 1943, were stranded in Lhasa, where they were drawn into Tibet's fight for independence.
Kirkus Reviews calls Lost in Tibet "a well rendered story with plenty of twists. For fans of The Burma Road and Into Thin Air."
Climbing magazine says "the story is marvelous, a page-turner for readers enamored of true-life adventure tales."
In November, 1943, at the height of World War II, five young American airmen were flying a treacherous supply route known as 'the Hump'. They expected a routine flight from Kunming in China back to their base at Jorhat in India, but high over the Himalayas, a violent storm erupted and blew their plane hundreds of miles off course.When their fuel ran out, the men were forced to bail out. They thought they would parachute into the Assam valley, a drop of some 20,000 feet. Instead, within seconds of leaving their plane, they slammed into the face of a mountain.
Miraculously, all five of the men survived. But their ordeal was just beginning. The men were stranded high in the mountains of central Tibet.
After fighting their way across some of Tibet's most formidable passes, the five Americans reached the 'Forbidden City' of Lhasa, then ruled by an eight-year-old god-king - the 14th (and current) Dalai Lama.
When they entered the city - on December 15, 1943 - the five men joined the ranks of the first few Americans ever to see the Tibetan capital - a full two years ahead of Heinrich Harrer, author of Seven Years in Tibet.
However, their appearance in Lhasa was not a matter of choice. Instead, the men were taken to the city by a suspicious government, which thought the Americans must be part of a long-anticipated Chinese invasion.
While in Lhasa, the five airmen were taken under the wing of the Chinese Mission, but when angry Tibetans tried to stone them, they found shelter at the British Mission instead. Caught within the competing triangle of Tibetan, Chinese and British interests, the men were drawn into the political turmoil that even then was swirling around Tibet's right to independence.
To avert an international incident -
and to secure their own safety - the men (shown right at the British
Mission in Lhasa) were forced to leave the city
in a hurry. They set out, in the middle of winter, on a perilous
journey across the Tibetan plateau - a journey that soon became a
desperate race against time.On one level, Lost in Tibet is a compelling, true-life adventure involving physical hardship and constant danger. But it also takes a detailed look at the life and culture of pre-Chinese Tibet, and at the forces that lead to the Chinese invasion.
At the time they occurred, the Americans' adventures in Tibet attracted widespread interest. They were written up in Collier's magazine, Newsweek, Readers' Digest and the New York Times. They were also the subject of a CBS radio drama documentary that was broadcast on February 4, 1944, and the publishers of Captain Aero turned them into a colorful - even lurid - comic strip. However, until now, the airmens' story has never been given the attention or weight it deserves.
Lost in Tibet has been well reviewed - by readers and media alike. It is now in its third printing, and has been translated into five languages. Also, an option for the film and television rights has been sold. You can read extracts here.
Lost in Tibet - a true story of high adventure, cultural conflict and political intrigue.
| Where to buy Lost in Tibet |
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Richard Starks and Miriam Murcutt
"Starks and Murcutt have skillfully placed this remarkable story in its political context. An excellent read." - Asian Affairs.
"Authors Starks and Murcutt absorbingly recount the political conquest of Tibet through the story of these five young men's unwitting embroilment in an international incident, and their extraordinary journey home." - Publishers Weekly.