Tree of Rivers: The Story of the Amazon

About this book

A history of the Amazon its peoples and those who have explored the river by an author with unsurpassed knowledge and experience in the region By far the worlds largest river the Amazon flows through the greatest expanse of tropical rain forest on earth. Human beings settled in Amazonia ten thousand years ago and learned to live well on its bounty. Europeans first saw the Amazon around 1500 and started settling there in the seventeenth century. Always in fear or awe of the jungle they tried in vain to introduce crops and livestock. John Hemmings account of the river and its history is full of larger-than-life personalities this unique environment attracted: explorers missionaries and naturalists among them. By the nineteenth century Amazonian natives had almost been destroyed by alien diseases and slavery as well as violent class rebellion. Although the rubber industry created huge fortunes it too was at a fearful cost in human misery. In the last hundred years the Amazon has seen intrepid explorers entreprenurial millionaires and political extremists taking refuge in jungle retreats. Alongside them natural scientists anthropologists and archaeologists have sought to discover the secrets of this mighty habitat. Today the worlds appetite for timber beef and soya is destroying this great tropical forest. Hemming explains why the Amazon is environmentally crucial to survival and brilliantly describes the passionate struggles to exploit and protect it.