Lost: Amelia Earhart's Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life

by Rachel Hartigan

Overview

Unravel one of history's greatest mysteries in this spellbinding narrative exploring three leading theories of Amelia Earhart’s tragic disappearance.

When Amelia Earhart’s plane disappeared in 1937, the clues poured in, attracting wild conspiracies about her tragic fate.

In Lost, former National Geographic reporter Rachel Hartigan delves into Earhart’s disappearance, introducing a host of eccentric characters who have become obsessed with finding the truth. Did the great aviator crash land near the Marshall Islands, only to be captured by Japanese soldiers? Did she manage to land on Nikumaroro Island but die of injury or starvation? Or did she run out of fuel and crash into the ocean?

Interspersed with the search for Earhart is the story of her extraordinary life: her unstable childhood, her itinerant early career, and how a PR-savvy publisher transformed her into an aviation icon and became her husband in an unconventional marriage.

In the spirit of nonfiction blockbusters like The Lost City of Z, Hartigan draws us into the world of Earhart's devotees and unspools a beguiling tale. The theories lead Hartigan from the pilot's birthplace of Atchison, Kansas to an expedition on a remote Pacific Island, where forensic dogs attempt to recover a potential sample of Earhart’s DNA.

As tantilizing new evidence mounts, Hartigan and her fellow investigators descend deeper into a world of conspiracy and obsession. Through its irresistible characters and prodigious research, Lost reveals not just why we remember Amelia Earhart as a trailblazer and adventurer, but why unsolved mysteries keep us forever searching for answers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426222542
Publisher:	Disney Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/03/2026
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

RACHEL HARTIGAN has written about everything from the genetics of persimmon trees to the long road to women’s suffrage for National Geographic, where she worked as a writer, reporter, and editor from 2012 to 2024. A former editor of the Washington Post’s Book World, she also covered education and culture for U.S. News & World Report. Her stories about the 2017 and 2019 National Geographic–funded expeditions to Nikumaroro Island each generated more than a million unique views.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“There’s a reason the story of Amelia Earhart stays in our minds, and Rachel Hartigan beautifully captures it in Lost, conjuring the inspiration, the daring, the failings, and the sheer mystery within this enduring tale. Beautifully reported and gracefully written, Lost is fascinating and fulfilling.”
—Susan Orlean, author of The Library Book and The Orchid Thief

“With Lost, Rachel Hartigan has given us something much more engaging than a traditional biography. In it, she examines Earhart’s curious afterlife to learn how the mystery of her final flight carries on today in unexpected and sometimes bizarre ways. Through Hartigan’s intrepid reporting across the Pacific and beyond, we see Earhart not only as a pioneering aviator, but as a powerful figure of fable and myth who still ignites our sense of wonder many decades after she vanished into the wild blue sky.”
—Hampton Sides, author of The Wide Wide Sea

“Here is Amelia Earhart as you have never met her: fearless, flawed, and endlessly fascinating. Hartigan pierces the legends without diminishing the legend-maker, showing us the human being behind the headlines.”
—Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and A World on Fire

“You might know that Amelia Earhart led an extraordinary life as both a pilot and a pioneering feminist. But in Rachel Hartigan’s captivating new book Lost, you’ll see that the search for her missing plane, and the fight over what she means today, is no less incredible a tale.”
—Sam Kean, author of Dinner With King Tut and The Disappearing Spoon

“In Lost, Rachel Hartigan has written a brilliant narrative, casting new light on the controversies surrounding Amelia Earhart’s disappearance. A first-rate reporter and storyteller, Hartigan fills her pages with personality, adventure, and intrigue. One minute, we’re in the cockpit with Earhart; the next, in the minds of those who believe they have solved the mystery of the pilot’s ultimate fate. Illuminating, engaging, and compelling.”
—Claudia Kalb, author of Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder and Spark

“Rachel Hartigan did what I never thought could be done: brought Amelia Earhart back to life. The narrative is rich, the reporting deep, and the adventure unforgettable. I couldn't put it down.”
—Daniel Stone, author of The Food Explorer and American Poison