Tree of Rivers: The Story of the Amazon by John Hemming (PDF)

Description

“In his long career of exploration and scholarship, Hemming has become a powerful advocate for the Amazon.”―The New York Times, John Hemming Amazonia is one of the most magnificent habitats on earth. Containing the world’s largest river, with more water and a broader basin than any other, it hosts a great expanse of tropical rain forest, home to the planet’s most luxuriant biological diversity. The human beings who settled in the region 10,000 years ago learned to live well with its bounty of fish, game, and vegetation. It was not until 1500 that Europeans first saw the Amazon, and, unsurprisingly, the rain forest’s unique environment has attracted larger-than-life personalities through the centuries. John Hemming recalls the adventures and misadventures of intrepid explorers, fervent Jesuit ecclesiastics, and greedy rubber barons who enslaved thousands of Indians in the relentless quest for profit. He also tells of nineteenth-century botanists, fearless advocates for Indian rights, and the archaeologists and anthropologists who have uncovered the secrets of the Amazon’s earliest settlers. Hemming discusses the current threat to Amazonia as forests are destroyed to feed the world’s appetite for timber, beef, and soybeans, and he vividly describes the passionate struggles taking place in order to utilize, protect, and understand the Amazon. 20 color, 50 b&w illustrations

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “Tree of Rivers is a great historical narrative and an important lesson in human behavior.” ― The Explorers Club Journal About the Author Formerly the Director of the Royal Geographical Society in London, John Hemming has traveled in and written extensively about the Amazon region. His previous books include Tree of Rivers.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐A truly interesting book about a complex part of the world. I would recommend it highly.

⭐Most history books are quite dull and even boring. This book is not that. It reads so well that it’s difficult to put down. Frankly I was looking for a more contemporary description of life in the Amazon when I bought this but from the beginning I was hooked. It is very well researched and skillfully written. It begins with the first explorers in the 1400’s through present day, describing all the major players, both the good (scientists, anthropologists and true explorers) and the bad (rubber barons, slave masters, mass murderers and modern day habitat destroyers). Anybody who is interested in the Amazon will find this extremely interesting. It gives you a real but sometimes shocking background for better understanding of the current dilemma, not only for the rainforest but also for the indigenous peoples who flourished within it and why the Europeans who tried to settle there failed miserably. This is not an “armchair traveler what’s-it-like-to-live-in-the-Amazon” book but, as the title says, a story beginning with the first explorers and subsequent impact of those who followed them. Buy this, you won’t be disappointed. Sure wish I could give it more than five stars.

⭐Mr Hemming is an amazing author. What could have been a boring “historical fact” book is instead an engrossing chronicle told by a master storyteller. I didn’t feel I was reading a dry “account “ – I felt like I was being told fascinating juicy stories about a mysterious place legends come from. I know this review sounds like a fake one- but here’s the thing- I don’t do reviews. But I had to with this book. It’s that good. And I have read parts of it aloud to my husband and my son and we have had interesting conversations as a result. I carried it with me on the plane- I read it in the airport- I read it on a rainy day snuggled up with my Maltese. It’s a very good book

⭐This is an excellent history of the Amazon basin. For geography you might want to supplement it with The Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon Basin. If you are in a hurry you might want to try Marshall De Bruhl’s The River Sea. It has the same basic facts and is faster to read.

⭐Excellent read from a writer who writes beautifully and who clearly loves the region and its peopleFantastic storytelling about the many individuals who have approached the region with different preconceptions, and how the region and its people have respondedBalanced view of the competing interests of indigenous people, Westerners, and naturePartisan only to the extent that common sense dictatesClear picture of how colonial approaches have historically and today been clouded by preconceptionsGripping picture of how Brazilian southerners today (and the political establishment) tend to see the north through historical colonial / settler lensesReally a good read and of interest to anyone interested in the Amazon, its complex past, and its difficult future

⭐Excellent historical account of the Amazon native people and explorers/later occupiers. The author gives comprehensive treatment to the history of the Amazon and its many river branches draining into the Amazon Basin. Good chronological maps of original native peoples and the following explorers. Recommended reading.

⭐This book is a very interesting and well documented story of the earliest accounts of human habitation to early exploration and efforts at introducing civilization to this country. The detailed accounts of those efforts are prologue to how much of Brazil is built upon its past and why things are the way they are today. Discussions of their flora and fauna are likewise interesting to the understanding of their culture. A truly fascinating book to read.

⭐Well I love reading about the jungle…be it the Amazon or the Congo. I love the diseases…the bugs…the brutal nature of this unforgiving land. The reason why I love reading about it is because I will NEVER EVER GO THERE SO THIS IS THE SECOND BEST WAY TO “BE THERE” WITHOUT ACTUALLY DEALING WITH THE SIDE EFFECTS…..those being death and malaria. and parasites that will ravage the body forever. I visited PERU in 1984 and Cuzco and that is as close as I ever want to get……So this is one hell of a ride without ever leaving your home. THIS BOOK IS INCREDIBLE!!!!!If you want adventure……..BUY THIS BOOK you will not be disappointed!!!!!!!!!!!

⭐A superb book by John Hemming about the the Amazon that should be read specially by the Portuguese, who tried throughout history to wipe out the traces of an unspeakable brutal below all standards colonization in that amazing part of the world. This is a fantastic and honest history about one of the most amazing places on earth by a very gifted man.

⭐chapters well planned. A lot of information on the whole range of historical, human, physical, economic background. Written very clearly in an extremely readable style… I read the sections i had previously had no interest in and learnt a lot painlessly! excellent book for a complete and rounded view of the region.

⭐A good book ,but a long read. The section on rubber trade was a little long ,

⭐Thank you.

⭐A super read that hooks you right from the start and then gives you a master-class in the Amazon’s history, its peoples, and its former and present-day problems.

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