Into the Amazon
The Life of Cândido Rondon, Trailblazing Explorer, Scientist, Statesman, and Conservationist
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4.0 • 5 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
“Rohter’s crisp biography is a welcome addition to the new, more inclusive canon.” —Rachel Slade, New York Times Book Review
A thrilling biography of the Indigenous Brazilian explorer, scientist, stateseman, and conservationist who guided Theodore Roosevelt on his journey down the River of Doubt.
Cândido Rondon is by any measure the greatest tropical explorer in history. Between 1890 and 1930, he navigated scores of previously unmapped rivers, traversed untrodden mountain ranges, and hacked his way through jungles so inhospitable that even native peoples had avoided them—and led Theodore Roosevelt and his son, Kermit, on their celebrated “River of Doubt” journey in 1913–14. Upon leaving the Brazilian Army in 1930 with the rank of a two-star general, Rondon, himself of indigenous descent, devoted the remainder of his life to not only writing about the region’s flora and fauna, but also advocating for the peoples who inhabited the rainforest and lobbying for the creation of a system of national parks. Despite his many achievements—which include laying down a 1,200-mile telegraph line through the heart of the Amazon and three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize—Rondon has never received his due. Originally published in Brazil, Into the Amazon is the first comprehensive biography of his life and remarkable career.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This stirring biography by Rohter (Brazil on the Rise), the former Rio de Janeiro bureau chief for the New York Times, chronicles the achievements of Brazilian Renaissance man Cândido Rondon (1865–1958), an accomplished explorer and the namesake of the Brazilian state of Rondônia. Rohter's cradle to grave treatment masterfully weaves the disparate strands of Rondon's eclectic life, beginning with his childhood as an impoverished orphan. Rondon enlisted in the army at 16 and later became an army engineer, receiving national plaudits for overseeing the construction of telegraph lines through the Amazon to connect disparate regions of Brazil. Emphasizing the significance of this accomplishment, Rohter compares it to America's transcontinental railroad and suggests it helped Brazil transition from "a haphazardly organized empire to a modern republic." The author also describes how Rondon, himself of Indigenous descent, founded Brazil's Indian Protection Service in 1910 (for which Albert Einstein nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize) and posits that Rondon's expeditions through 25,000 miles of wilderness (including leading Theodore Roosevelt's "River of Doubt" trip) make him the "greatest explorer of the tropics in recorded history." Rohter's thorough research and eye for detail make for a vivid telling of a remarkable tale. This is a trip well worth taking.
