The Lost City of the Monkey God

In the deep jungles in Central America, the slightest geometric mountain may hide a forgotten pyramid, any cave may hold a treasure of jaguar statuettes in jade. But to find them you need to fight insects, snakes, or Leishmaniosis. That is what journalist Douglas Preston practically did. He was already known for subjects published in the National Geographic, when he followed scientists in search of a forgotten city in Honduras, in the region of Mosquitia, near the border with Nicaragua. The remoteness of the country, its reputation of violence, and even the difficult access to the site protected this city of the monkey god. It was hidden under the vegetation. This truly surprising discovery seems to confirm the existence of a civilization parallel to the one of the Mayas, completely disseminated by the European illnesses brought in by the colonialists.

• La cité perdue du dieu singe (French translation of The Lost City of the Monkey God, published 2017 by Grand Central Publishing), by Douglas Preston, Albin Michel, 2018, 384 p., €24