
At A Glance
Preston began his career as an editor at the American Museum of Natural History, and he taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University. His eight-year stint at the Museum resulted in the nonfiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, edited by Lincoln Child.
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- The Lost City of the Monkey God
In 2015, Preston accompanied an expedition into a remote valley hidden in the Mosquitia mountains of Honduras. There the team explored and mapped an unknown, Pre-Columbian city, discovered by air three years earlier, in one of the most stunning archaeological finds of the 21st century.
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- Seven Cities of Gold
Preston retraced on horseback the journey of the Spanish conquistador, Coronado, and his futile search for the Seven Cities of Gold in Arizona and New Mexico. That journey resulted in the book, Cities of Gold .
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- The Monster of Florence
Preston lived in Italy for many years and wrote a true-crime book about Italy’s Jack the Ripper, a serial killer known as the Monster of Florence. The book is being made into a major motion picture.
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- The Writing Life
For an audience of writers or aspiring writers, Preston talks about how he got started, how he works with a writing partner, and shares his thoughts on the secrets of getting published and becoming a best-selling author
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Preston began his career as an editor at the American Museum of Natural History, and he taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University. His eight-year stint at the Museum resulted in the nonfiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, edited by Lincoln Child. During this period, Preston gave Child a midnight tour of the museum, and in the darkened Hall of Late Dinosaurs, under a looming T. Rex, Child turned to Preston and said: “This would make the perfect setting for a thriller.” That thriller became Relic, made into a #1 box office hit movie by Paramount Pictures, and launched a long and fruitful collaboration, which introduced to the world Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast.
In 1986, Douglas Preston piled everything he owned into the back of a Subaru and moved from New York City to Santa Fe to write full time. Preston wrote Cities of Gold, a nonfiction book about Coronado's search for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. To research the book, Preston and photographer Walter W. Nelson retraced on horseback 1,000 miles of Coronado's route across the Southwest.
In addition to writing novels, Preston pursues a career in journalism, writing about archaeology for the New Yorker and National Geographic. Among his many journalistic adventures, he explored a 12th century temple buried in the Cambodian rainforest; he was the first to enter a burial chamber in a tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings; and he was on the first expedition to explore a lost city discovered in the Mosquitia jungles of Honduras. In 2010 Preston spent ten days with U.S. troops in Iraq, as part of the first USO author tour in a combat zone.
In the year 2000, Preston moved with his family to Florence, Italy. He became fascinated by the true story of a serial killer named the Monster of Florence. He teamed up with an Italian journalist, Mario Spezi, and in 2008 they published a nonfiction book, The Monster of Florence. Preston was also active in the Amanda Knox murder case and went on the Today Show, 48 Hours, Dateline NBC, and Megyn Kelly’s show on Fox, defending Amanda and explaining the Italian legal system. He wrote about the case in two short ebooks, Trial By Fury and The Forgotten Killer.
In 2014 Preston founded Authors United, to protest Amazon’s sanctioning of books in a commercial dispute with Hachette. He serves on the board of the Authors Guild. He sits on the advisory council of the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, and he is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Long Rider’s Guild. In 2011, Pomona College conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa.
Author Magazine Interview
Dateline: The Monster of Florence
48 Hours: Douglas Preston Discusses Amanda Knox Case Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini
This adventurer found the trip worth it — despite the flesh-eating disease
The Washington PostDouglas Preston’s latest book, “The Lost City of the Monkey God,” chronicles the feats of a team of explorers as they harness cutting-edge technology and old-fashioned daring to find a city rumored to have been built more than 1,000 years ago in… Read more
A best-selling author reveals what it was like to get a flesh-eating disease while exploring a 'lost city' in the Honduran jungle
Business InsiderAs the sun set over his campsite one evening, author Douglas Preston silently congratulated himself on still being alive. Preston had spent the last week in a remote jungle in Honduras. In that time, he and a team of researchers had wrestled… Read more
Lost City Discovered in the Honduran Rain Forest
National GeographicIn search for legendary “City of the Monkey God,” explorers find the untouched ruins of a vanished culture.… Read more
Pernicious Parasite Strikes Explorers of ‘Lost City’
National GeographicExpedition to Honduran rain forest returns with a startling discovery—and a stubborn strain of a tropical disease.… Read more
Author Q&A: Douglas Preston’s varied career
Portland Press HeraldThe writer and part-time Mainer talks about creating characters with a partner and moving between truth and fiction.… Read more