Reviewer is Bill McDonald, President of the Military Writers Society of America.
This review appeared on the MWSA web site and also on amazon.com.
A True Story of Survival and Friendship
This book “Touching the Ancient One – A True Story of Tragedy and Reunion” could have been a very good book had the author Rupert Pratt just written about the crash, the survival and the rescue. However, he exceeds the ordinary telling of a tragic story and takes us into the present time for a reunion and follow-up on those who were touched by the events of February 5, 1954; and that makes for an outstanding book!
The event that brings all these lives together was a crash of an Air Force C-47 into a desolate mountain region of Alaska where six people miraculously escaped death and survived in freezing weather. The story is not just about the survivors but also those who come to rescue them. The glue that makes this story so interesting is the power of Pratt’s writing. He takes the reader with him through his words and memories and creates an exciting true tale; it is brilliantly done and conceived.
This is truly one great book. This story is not just about a crash, it is about people. It is about how their reunion 42 years after the crash and the rescue, changes all of their lives once again. It is a most unusual life experience and one that the reader gets to share in an emotional sense. This is an epic story which has all the elements of what would make a great movie plot. It is entertaining, thoughtful, and almost spiritual in some ways.
A must read book! The MWSA gives this book FIVE STARS. It also receives this reviewer’s personal endorsement!