Eden undone: a true story of sex, murder, and utopia at the dawn of World War II
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"An incredible true story of murder in a utopian community established on a remote Galápagos island by European refugees and the American industrialist who became embroiled in the investigation-from the New York Times bestselling author of The Ghosts of Eden Park At the height of the Great Depression, Los Angeles oil mogul George Allan Hancock and his crew of Smithsonian scientists came upon a gruesome scene: two bodies, mummified by the searing heat, on the shore of a remote Galápagos island. For the past four years Hancock and other American elites had traveled the South Seas to collect specimens for scientific research. On one trip to the Galápagos, Hancock was surprised to discover an equally exotic group of humans: European exiles who had fled political and economic unrest, hoping to create a utopian paradise. One was so devoted to a life of isolation that he'd had his teeth extracted and replaced with a set of steel dentures. As Hancock and his fellow American explorers would witness, paradise had turned into chaos. The three sets of exiles-a Berlin doctor and his lover, a traumatized World War Iveteran and his young family, and an Austrian baroness with two adoring paramours-were riven by conflict. Petty slights led to angry confrontations. The baroness, wielding a riding crop and pearl-handled revolver, staged physical fights between her two lovers and unabashedly seduced American tourists. The conclusion was deadly: with two exiles missing and three others dead, the survivors hurled accusations of murder. Using never-before-published archives, Abbott Kahler weaves a chilling, stranger-than-fiction tale worthy of Agatha Christie. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the march to World War II, with a mystery as alluring and curious as the Galápagos itself, Eden Undone explores the universal and timeless desire to seek utopia-and lays bare the human fallibility that, inevitably, renders such a quest doomed"--
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Citations
Kahler, A. (2024). Eden undone: a true story of sex, murder, and utopia at the dawn of World War II. First edition. Crown.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Kahler, Abbott, 1973-. 2024. Eden Undone: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia At the Dawn of World War II. Crown.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Kahler, Abbott, 1973-, Eden Undone: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia At the Dawn of World War II. Crown, 2024.
MLA Citation (style guide)Kahler, Abbott. Eden Undone: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia At the Dawn of World War II. First edition. Crown, 2024.
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Record Information
| Last Sierra Extract Time | Sep 04, 2025 08:52:38 PM |
|---|---|
| Last File Modification Time | Sep 04, 2025 08:52:46 PM |
| Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Sep 04, 2025 08:52:42 PM |
MARC Record
| LEADER | 05656cam a2200445 i 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 003 | OCoLC | ||
| 005 | 20241011095851.0 | ||
| 008 | 240523t20242024nyuabf b 001 0 eng | ||
| 019 | |a 1455501966 | ||
| 020 | |a 9780451498656 |q (hardcover) | ||
| 020 | |a 0451498658 |q (hardcover) | ||
| 035 | |a (OCoLC)1428195770 |z (OCoLC)1455501966 | ||
| 040 | |a DLC |b eng |e rda |c DLC |d OCLCO |d MJ8 |d OCLCO |d LJW |d OCO |d UAG |d INO |d OCLCO |d PZY |d IMT | ||
| 042 | |a pcc | ||
| 043 | |a pogg--- | ||
| 049 | |a LEOA | ||
| 100 | 1 | |a Kahler, Abbott, |d 1973- |e author. |0 http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2007076020 |1 https://id.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/E39PBJtRKPJ4jVB7BJHKD4xFKd | |
| 245 | 1 | 0 | |a Eden undone : |b a true story of sex, murder, and utopia at the dawn of World War II / |c Abbott Kahler. |
| 250 | |a First edition. | ||
| 264 | 1 | |a New York : |b Crown, |c [2024] | |
| 264 | 4 | |c ©2024 | |
| 300 | |a xvi, 330 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : |b illustrations, map ; |c 25 cm | ||
| 336 | |a text |b txt |2 rdacontent | ||
| 337 | |a unmediated |b n |2 rdamedia | ||
| 338 | |a volume |b nc |2 rdacarrier | ||
| 504 | |a Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-317) and index. | ||
| 505 | 0 | |a Author's Note -- Prologue: Paradise lost -- Part I: Our inner demon and its whims. One: The doctor and his disciple ; Two: Dying in one world ; Three: The enchanted isles ; Four: Friedo ; Five: A moment lived in paradise ; Six: The first of the dollar kings ; Seven: Catalyst ; Eight: The first intruders ; Nine: Appearances ; Ten: Our so-called paradise ; Eleven: Mr. Hancock of Los Angeles ; Twelve: And then there were five ; Thirteen: A direct order from God ; Fourteen: A pity that they should be so unpleasant ; Fifteen: Before the storm ; Sixteen: Dead sun -- Part II: It does them good to know who is their master. Seventeen: And then there were nine ; Eighteen: Dentist and doctor indeed ; Nineteen: Ready for all crimes ; Twenty: And then there were ten ; Twenty-one: The man isn't born who can resist me ; Twenty-two: A hunter since his kitten days ; Twenty-three: What a girl ; Twenty-four: The Empress of Floreana ; Twenty-five: Fanatical jealousy -- Part III: Natural selection. Twenty-six: You don't know the Americans ; Twenty-seven: Vague and ominous presentiments ; Twenty-eight: "Accident" ; Twenty-nine: A wicked plan ; Thirty: Strange satanic moods ; Thirty-one: A woman's natural instinct to play with fire ; Thirty-two: And then there were seven ; Thirty-three: The feeling of tragedy ; Thirty-four: And then there were six ; Thirty-five: Scoundrelism, rascality, and faking ; Thirty-six: And then there were five ; Thirty-seven: And then there were four; Thirty-eight: Thus spake Floreana -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Photo insert credits -- Index. | |
| 520 | |a "An incredible true story of murder in a utopian community established on a remote Galápagos island by European refugees and the American industrialist who became embroiled in the investigation-from the New York Times bestselling author of The Ghosts of Eden Park At the height of the Great Depression, Los Angeles oil mogul George Allan Hancock and his crew of Smithsonian scientists came upon a gruesome scene: two bodies, mummified by the searing heat, on the shore of a remote Galápagos island. For the past four years Hancock and other American elites had traveled the South Seas to collect specimens for scientific research. On one trip to the Galápagos, Hancock was surprised to discover an equally exotic group of humans: European exiles who had fled political and economic unrest, hoping to create a utopian paradise. One was so devoted to a life of isolation that he'd had his teeth extracted and replaced with a set of steel dentures. As Hancock and his fellow American explorers would witness, paradise had turned into chaos. The three sets of exiles-a Berlin doctor and his lover, a traumatized World War Iveteran and his young family, and an Austrian baroness with two adoring paramours-were riven by conflict. Petty slights led to angry confrontations. The baroness, wielding a riding crop and pearl-handled revolver, staged physical fights between her two lovers and unabashedly seduced American tourists. The conclusion was deadly: with two exiles missing and three others dead, the survivors hurled accusations of murder. Using never-before-published archives, Abbott Kahler weaves a chilling, stranger-than-fiction tale worthy of Agatha Christie. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the march to World War II, with a mystery as alluring and curious as the Galápagos itself, Eden Undone explores the universal and timeless desire to seek utopia-and lays bare the human fallibility that, inevitably, renders such a quest doomed"-- |c Provided by publisher. | ||
| 650 | 0 | |a Utopias |x History |y 20th century. |0 http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2010117623 | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Murder. |0 http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85088613 | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Sex. |0 http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85120549 | |
| 651 | 0 | |a Santa María Island (Galapagos Islands) |0 http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85117382 | |
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| 655 | 7 | |a Biographies. |2 lcgft |0 http://id.loc.gov/authorities/genreForms/gf2014026049 | |
| 655 | 7 | |a True crime stories. |2 lcgft |0 http://id.loc.gov/authorities/genreForms/gf2014026203 | |
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