Introduction
Modern man takes considerable pride in his present state of civilization, at times almost worshipping the trappings of science, education and technology. The tendency to deify civilization is so strong, in fact, that any person or race of people born in more "backward" or "primitive" conditions is automatically designated as an object of pity or scorn. For the enlightened man, it becomes very easy look down in condescension upon the less enlightened, and to use their relative naivete as the excuse for inflicting an alien set of codes and values upon them.
Values and morals, in a very real sense, are civilization. It should not be supposed, however, that because civilization is basically beneficial to mankind, that all of the mores and restrictions which it fosters are equally beneficial. Quite the contrary, it often seems readily apparent that many of society's codes and restrictions are positively unnatural and, beyond that, detrimental to the physical and mental well being of mankind. One proof of this is the rapidity with which those mores and codes evaporate once the superficial trappings of civilization are withdrawn.
You are about to read the story of a small group of people who found themselves suddenly placed in that unique situation, instantly stripped of the luxuries and traditional guidelines which constitute civilization. They were all quite ordinary citizens, none of them remarkable by himself, until that stunning moment when their lives were turned upside-down and they found themselves forced to adapt overnight to a far older code of survival.
Join us, then, on an odyssey of human transformation, as we attempt to determine whether or not a "noble savage" does in fact dwell within every civilized man. The answers may surprise you as much as they did the actual people involved in the unfolding drama. Come to the adventure without prejudice or preconceptions, and you may find something of yourself within these characters as they struggle daily for self-realization and for survival itself.
The Publishers