Jungleland: A Mysterious Lost City, a WWII Spy, and a True Story of Deadly Adventure

Christopher S. Stewart

Jan 2014 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

“A bold attempt to solve the mystery of the White City of Honduras. . . . Readers who loved The Lost City of Z have found their next great true adventure.” —Mitchell Zuckoff, New York Times–bestselling author of Lost in Shangri-La

On April 6, 1940, explorer and future World War II spy Theodore Morde—who would one day attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler—was 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, journalist 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 tantalizing 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, Stewart sets out to find answers—in a white-knuckle adventure that combines Morde’s wild, enigmatic tale with his own epic journey to discover the truth about the White City.

“A gritty, remarkable tale of exploration and risk in a nervy trek to the edge of civilization.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Stewart is a crisp, lean, colorful stylist, with that essential knack: a nose for punchy, telling anecdotes and images . . . great fun to read.” —Salon

“A fascinating and gripping account, a true-to-life Indiana Jones adventure.” —Douglas Preston, New York Times–bestselling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God

About the author

Christopher S. Stewart is an investigative reporter at the Wall Street Journal, where he shared a 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. His work has appeared in GQ, Harper’s, New York Times Magazine, New York, The Paris Review, Wired, and other publications, and he also served as deputy editor at the New York Observer and is a former contributing editor at Condé Nast Portfolio. Stewart is the author of Hunting the Tiger and Jungleland. He lives with his family in New York.