The Lost Ones

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The Lost Ones are stories of people who were born in the wrong place at the wrong time. Their individual fates give insight into big, dramatic events in world history.

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In 1924, a woman entered the capital of Tibet after having travelled thousands of kilometres on foot. It was the first time a foreigner had crossed the border of the sacred city. This mythical feat, one of many by Alexandra David-Néel, made the reputation of this explorer, writer, anarchist, feminist and traveller.

Alexandra David-Neel: An Adventurer in Tibet

Victor Lustig was a brazen liar who loved the high life. In 1925, he pulled off the biggest con of all - literally. Convincing a group of industrialists that he was selling the Eiffel tower for scrap metal, he skipped town with the downpayment in his pocket. But his life of crime eventually catches up with him. 

Victor Lustig was a brazen liar who loved the high life. In 1925, he pulled off the biggest con of all - literally

Victor Lustig, the Con Artist Who Sold the Eiffel Tower

Reporter, photographer, poet: Annemarie Schwarzenbach shone in the night sky of the 20th century, her life bright and brief. Horrified at the rise of facism and the outbreak of war, she fled to travel the world with her lover. Morphine and writing become her refuge. 

Horrified at the rise of facism and the outbreak of war, Annemarie Schwarzenbach fled to travel the world with her lover

Annemarie Schwarzenbach, Literature's Fallen Angel

In 1930, New York was bewitched by a new sound, seemingly coming out of thin air: the theremin, invented by the Russian engineer Lev Sergeyevich Termen. He created the first electronic instrument in history, and won praise from both Lenin and Stalin. But he was a double agent, and things would turn sour fast.

There's an instrument invented in the 1930s that you can play without ever even touching it - you just pull the notes out of the air, as if by magic

Lev Sergueïevitch Termen's Magical Soviet Instrument

The Marchioness Casati was admired throughout Europe for her incredible parties and expensive tastes. She was an eccentric patron of the arts, and her face appears again and again in the works of all the notable painters of her day. But she would rip through her inheritance by the age of fifty and end up wondering the streets of London, going though rubbish bins.

The Marchioness Casati went from living in a palace to eking out an existence on the streets of London

Luisa Casati, the Ruined Marchioness

A talented tennis player winning the US and French Opens, Gottfried von Cramm was such a champion that Hitler wanted to make him the poster boy for the Nazis. But von Cramm had other ideas.

Homosexual and anti-Nazi, von Cramm was an outstanding tennis player detested by Hitler.

Gottfried von Cramm, The Nazi Tennis Darling

He was both the most adored and the most feared of the Italian aviation aces during the Great War. Addicted to risk, he joined the utopian enclave of Fiume in 1919, with commander Gabriele d'Annunzio. Guido Keller, the dandy, the eccentric, took part in the spectacular and delirious experiment of creating a dream society.

He was both the most adored and the most feared of the Italian aviation aces during the Great War and he took part in the spectacular and delirious experiment of the Free State of Fiume.

Guido Keller: The Activist Aviator

Prospector Jakko Isola went to the icy wilderness of northern Finland in the hope of finding gold. What he found instead was inner peace in the beauty and tranquillity of the far North. That is until he finally did uncover gold…

Jaakko Isola's Cursed Gold

He was the Mozart of the mind. One of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century, Monsieur Chouchani was an enigma. He lived as a tramp with almost no possessions. He was self-taught, spoke ten languages, and inspired love and loyalty among the greatest and the best.

One of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century, Monsieur Chouchani was an enigma

Monsieur Chouchani, the Vagabond Luminary

On the shores of the Red Sea he was known as the Sea Wolf.  The extraordinary story of the man who had been everything: Writer, sailor, privateer, arms and hashish dealer.

Henry de Monfreid

In the First World War, a deserted French soldier pretended to be a woman for years in order to escape execution. As Suzanne, Paul Grappe led a dissolute life in Parisian cabarets during the Roaring Twenties. But eventually, his disordered life and worsening mental state caught up with him.

In the First World War, a deserted French soldier pretended to be a woman for years in order to escape execution

Paul Grappe, Trans Deserter

In the 19th century, a young nobleman called Isabelle Eberhardt travelled to the Maghreb to learn about Arab culture and Islam. In Algeria she rode alone in the Sahara under the name Si Mahmoud, dressed in men's clothes. The eccentric, independent and rebellious woman made a name for herself as a writer before her tragically premature death.

The Lost Ones

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Alexandra David-Neel: An Adventurer in Tibet

Alexandra David-Neel: An Adventurer in Tibet

The Lost Ones

Victor Lustig, the Con Artist Who Sold the Eiffel Tower

Victor Lustig, the Con Artist Who Sold the Eiffel Tower

The Lost Ones

Annemarie Schwarzenbach, Literature's Fallen Angel

Annemarie Schwarzenbach, Literature's Fallen Angel

The Lost Ones

Lev Sergueïevitch Termen's Magical Soviet Instrument

Lev Sergueïevitch Termen's Magical Soviet Instrument

The Lost Ones

Luisa Casati, the Ruined Marchioness

Luisa Casati, the Ruined Marchioness

The Lost Ones

Gottfried von Cramm, The Nazi Tennis Darling

Gottfried von Cramm, The Nazi Tennis Darling

The Lost Ones

Guido Keller: The Activist Aviator

Guido Keller: The Activist Aviator

The Lost Ones

Jaakko Isola's Cursed Gold

Jaakko Isola's Cursed Gold

The Lost Ones

Monsieur Chouchani, the Vagabond Luminary

Monsieur Chouchani, the Vagabond Luminary

The Lost Ones

Henry de Monfreid

Henry de Monfreid

The Lost Ones

Paul Grappe, Trans Deserter

Paul Grappe, Trans Deserter

The Lost Ones

Isabelle Eberhardt, Queen of the Sahara

Isabelle Eberhardt, Queen of the Sahara

The Lost Ones