Lost in Tibet - The Untold Story of Five American Airmen, a Doomed Plane and a Will to Survive (Paperback)

Caught in a violent storm and blown far off their intended course, five American airmen - flying the dangerous Himalayan supply route known as "The Hump" - were forced to bail out just seconds before their plane ran out of fuel. To their astonishment, they found they had landed in the heart of Tibet. The five were among the first Americans ever to enter the Forbidden City and among the last to see it before the Chinese launched their invasion. While in Tibet, the five Americans had to confront what, to them, seemed a bizarre - even alien - people. At the same time, they had to extricate themselves from the political turmoil that even then was raging around Tibet's right to be independent from China. "Lost in Tibet" is an extraordinary story of high adventure, cultural conflict, and political intrigue. It also sheds light on the remarkable Tibetan people, just at that moment when they were coming to terms with a hostile outside world. It is a classic tale of World War II, and an extraordinary story of high adventure.