Brazilian Adventure [Textbook Binding]

Peter Fleming (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1978

In 1932, Peter Fleming joined a search for the celebrated English adventurer Colonel P.H. Fawcett, missing for five years in the jungles of central Brazil.

With meager supplies, faulty maps, and rival newspapermen hot on their trail, Fleming and his companions marched through 3000 miles of savage country toward an uncertain rendezvous with the lost colonel.

BRAZILIAN ADVENTURE is one of Peter Fleming's finest works. It is as fresh today as when first published in 1933, with the added advantage that it gives an authentic picture of an upper-class Englishman on the loose between the wars.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'An observer of great wisdom and learning...' - Simon Winchester 'One reads him for literary delight and for the pleasure of meeting an Elizabethan spirit allied to a modern mind.... but he is also an observer of penetrating intellect.' - Vita Sackville-West, Spectator. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

9 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Textbook Binding
• Publisher: Norwood Editions (June 1978)
• ISBN-10: 0848208226
• ISBN-13: 978-0848208226
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,132,461 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a wonderful read, October 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Brazilian Adventure (Paperback)

I can't believe nobody else has reviewed this book- it is a classic travel book and a wonderful read. It was his first book and very much a young man's piece of writing- a humorous, true account of an expedition to locate the famous explorer Col. (or was it Major?)Fawcett who vanished in the Amazon. I can't really do the book justice- just read it for yourself! Trivia: Peter was Ian Fleming's brother, Fawcet was the inspiration for Doyle's "The Lost World".

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging, witty and a must read!, December 14, 2000

By 

A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brazilian Adventure (Paperback)

Every so often I have to buy a new copy of Brazillian Adventure because I lend my copy to someone and they flatly refuse to return it again. This is one of the most engaging and good-humoured travel books ever. It was Fleming's first adventure and his first book - yet it became a classic work going into several editions early on and being used in schools as a study piece. It is seriously well written, and seriously engaging.

It starts with his blandly describing how he got involved in the expedition in the first place- answering an advertisement in the paper to go on a 'Fawcett hunt" (as he later called it). He thought he would go on a grand expedition to find the missing explorer Colonel Fawcett and get a little hunting done at the same time. There have been numerous books and studies done on the disappearnce of Fawcett in Brazil in the 1920's - to this day no one quite knows what happened to him, and as it turns out the expedition that Fleming was joining was not going to throw new light on matters either.

In fact the trip deteriorated badly the moment they hit Brazil, and Fleming's dry wit turns it all into a hilarious read - although it must have been desparately uncomfortable for them all. The expedition Leader was incompetent, the expedition split into two warring factions and they all ended up in a race back down the Amazon to try to get the banks in time.

Peter Fleming, in case you didn't know, is the brother of the 'James Bond' author Ian Fleming - a talent for writing seemed to run in the family. Peter continued his travels and writing career but I think this first book is the best of them all. There is also a wonderful biography on his life available but I think that is now out of print.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Old Fashion Adventure Still Works, July 6, 2000

By 

C. Ebeling "ctlpareader" (PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Brazilian Adventure (Paperback)

This is contemporary American adventure: buy an SUV, watch game shows based on Lord of the Flies, try the risotto recipe Martha Stewart used on her ascent in the Himilayas. Please! Brazilian Adventure is the real thing for those who don't own their own snowshoes. Sure, the author and his companions set off with pith helmets worthy of Ralph Lauren and more elaborate gear than they'll ever use; true, Fleming is something of a good old boy circa 1932 Oxford style. Skin to be shed. When reality hits, which it does early in the adventure and continues to the bedraggled end, he rises to the occasion. The narrative is suffused with clear-eyed wit, honesty and optimism. I hope there are other Peter Fleming books out there.