Two movies have been made from this book:Īctors: Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Sam Jaffe, H. When you purchase your own copy, be sure it is unabridged. Questions readers will ask themselves are these: How much of this book could be true? What lessons about life can be learned by reading it? Is it a true happier-ever-after utopia-or might it have elements of a dystopia in it? It was widely reprinted in hardback by Grosset & Dunlap and in trade paper by Pocket Books. Its original publisher: William Morrow & Co., Inc.

It is a riveting romance that has fascinated readers and movie-goers ever since it was printed. The vehicle bringing five passengers (four British, one American) is a high altitude plane that somehow made it to the mountains of the Blue Moon. Here, if the world self-destructed, civilized life could be given a chance for a rebirth in Shangri-La, where the High Lama has discovered the secret of extending life beyond even 200 years.

This one, however, set in 1931, conceptualized a mythical utopia set high in one of the remotest parts of the Himalayas. Hilton, born in England, wrote several books exploring aspects of the war. A war so horrific, many wondered if it would doom civilization. James Hilton (1900 – 1954) was, like most of his contemporaries, deeply impacted by what contemporaries called “The Great War” (World War I). Since the advent of this novel in 1933, Shangri-La, the setting for this utopian novel, has come to mean a place of peace and contentment to people all around the world.

James hilton novel