Miraculously, all five survived the jump. Their ordeal was just beginning. After crossing some treacherous mountains, the men rode on mules into the fabled city of Lhasa. They were escorted to Lhasa by a suspicious Tibetan government, and they were trapped in a tightening vise between China and the West.

The five were among the first Americans ever to enter the Forbidden City (two years before Heinrich Harrer, author of Seven Years in Tibet), and among the last to see it before the Chinese invasion.

To avert an international incident, and to assure their own safety, the five men were forced to leave Lhasa. They set out, in winter, on a perilous journey across the Tibetan plateau, only to find themselves caught in a desperate race against time.

Book includes high adventure, cultural conflict, and political intrigue.