Lost Horizon: by James HIlton.

James Hilton is far too much undervalued in literature and he deserves far more respect. This is one of his best works, though many others are close and generally he is a high level.

Conception of a place that is hidden in clear sight under open sky in high and extremely remote mountains, designed to protect in a tranquil surroundings as much of precious treasures of knowledge as possible, while making it possible to create and live as well, all this at the place called Shangri La, which became a name for utopia of dreams - this was his creation, his gift to humanity, and while it might very well have been based on a real place in Himaalaya or elsewhere in India; still, it is his gift that west had the concept at all generally - while the connotation of what it stood for was forgotten by most, so people know the name but not the meaning.

Lost Horizon is about finding such a heaven while wars rage on in world out there with threats of annihilation.