Alive: The True Story of the Andes Survivors - Softcover

Read, Piers Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099432498 ISBN 13: 9780099432494

Publisher: Arrow, 2002

Synopsis

In 1972, a Fairchild plane carrying forty-five passengers, including the Uruguayan rugby team, crashed in the Andes mountains. The thirty-two survivors were hopelessly lost in one of the most remote places on earth.

After eight days of heavy snowfall, the rescue attempt was abandoned. Even if the plane could be found, the likelihood of the forty-five passengers and crew being discovered alive was remote. Yet ten weeks later two emaciated men fell to their knees at the sight of a Chilean peasant tending his cattle in a remote Andean valley. After finally persuading the incredulous authorities that they really were passengers from the missing plane, the two men led a rescue team to the site of the crash, the remaining fourteen survivors and a tale of horrific bravery.

Putting to rest the rumours and criticism the survivors suffered, Alive exposes the inescapable truth and stark courageousness of how they lived to tell their story. Weakened by starvation, extreme cold, and by the awful knowledge that the search had been called off, the survivors had to face the torturous reality of their situation: to live, they must eat the flesh of their dead companions...

About this title

About the Author

Piers Paul Read, the son of poet and art critic Sir Herbert Read, is the author of thirteen novels and several short stories. He has received the Thomas More medal for distinguished contribution to Catholic literature for his book Alive. Read currently lives in London with his wife and four children.

From the Back Cover

In 1972, a plane crashed in the Andes mountains, if anyone survived they were hopelessly lost in the worst place on earth to survive.

After eight days of heavy snowfall, the rescue party was abandoned. In 1972, after eight days of heavy snowfall over the Andes mountains, the search for survivors of a missing Fairchild aeroplane ceased. Even if the plane could be found, the likeliness of the forty-five passengers and crew being found alive was remote. Yet ten weeks later two emaciated men fell to their knees at the sight of a Chilean peasant tending his cattle in a remote Andean valley. After these two men finally persuaded the incredulous authorities that they really were survivors of the missing Fairchild plane, they led a rescue team to the site of the crash, the remaining fourteen survivors and a tale of horrific bravery.

Putting to rest the rumours and criticism the survivors came into, Alive exposes the inescapable truth and stark courageousness of how they lived to tell their story. Weakened by starvation, extreme cold, and by the awful knowledge that the search had been called off, the survivors had to face the torturous reality of their situation: to live, they must eat the flesh of their dead companions...

'It is inconceivable to me that this story could have been better told...a masterpiece of narrative'
Graham Greene

'Thunderous entertainment...a classic human adventure...a narrative of terrific and enduring significance'
New York Times


Non-fiction
ISBN 0099432498
£6.99
www.randomhouse.co.uk

Edition details

• Publisher: Arrow
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0099432498
• ISBN 13: 9780099432494
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320