Customer Reviews

The Last Forest: The Amazon in the Age of Globalization

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In a pithy, mostly engaging first-person account, the book provides an excellent synopsis of the various factors impacting Amazonia, especially Brazil, vis-a-vis economic and social development. The discussion is often framed within the context of protection of the environment and covers a gamut of issues - from political issues to impact of cattle. By largely using a first-person narrative, the book is able to provide a broad view of the different pertinent issues, though one cannot consider its treatment of any of the topics to be comprehensive. Regardless, the book is informative, provides an excellent background on previous research, and is for the most part annotated with excellent notes. One glaring disappointment is the lack of any photographs/plates in the book that could added impact to the narrations. The concluding chapter is fairly "decaf" with no real specific solutions cited to the problems raised. Perhaps thats the point of the book - the problems raised in the book is too complex to solve using traditional approaches. The struggles of a society (and state) as it "modernizes" is highlighted in an excellent manner using the various chapters which have a "stand-alone" feel to it. That lack of tight integration among the chapters adds to the broad view the book tries to paint. A good read.

More than a quarter century ago authors Mark London and Brian Kelly spent a considerable amount of time in the jungles of Brazil doing research for their 1983 book "Amazon". They wanted to meet the inhabitants of this strange and mysterious territory and discover for themselves just what was happening there. Now some 25 years later London and Kelly have returned to the Amazon to report on how this incredibly vast region and its people have fared during those intervening years. For all intents and purposes "The Last Forest" is a report card on the effectiveness of governmental policies at various levels and how wisely the land is being used by both the business community and the peoples who would call the Amazon home. "The Last Forest" is definitely not another doom and gloom book written by someone with an environmental ax to grind. Rather, this is a scholarly work that seeks to figure out which policies and approaches have been successful as well as those that may not have been. Mark London and Brian Kelly do yeoman work as reporters searching for the real story of the Amazon in 2007. I could detect no real political agendas here.

To most of the developed world the Amazon represents the last vast wilderness area on the planet. Environmentalists in both the United States and Europe are demanding that Brazil protect the rain forests from significant development. But is this realistic? Those in both the public and private sectors in Brazil are quick to point out that neither the Europeans nor the Americans were willing to adhere to such stringent land use policies as their nations developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For the most part, London and Kelly found that the Brazilian government is really quite sensitive to environmental issues but that they must balance these concerns with the sobering reality that their citizens need to put food on the table and must have jobs to go to. And when one stops to consider just how vast an area the Amazon is are you begin to appreciate how difficult it must be for any government agency to control what goes on there. In "The Last Forest" you will meet some of the leaders in various governmental entities who are charged with managing these complicated problems. You will also be introduced to a number of important business people who will detail the difficult issues they face in trying to make a go of it in such a vast and remote area. Then you will meet some of the ordinary folk and learn about the way they live. Some of these people live in extremely remote areas along the riverways while others struggle to survive in the congested cities. Finally, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the indispensible map of South America that is included at the beginning of this book. I found myself referring to it again and again! When all is said and done you will definitely have a much clearer understanding of this largely misunderstood region of the world.

"The Last Forest" is a thoroughly engaging and highly informative book. While most of us would love to see the jungles of the Amazon remain untouched for perpetuity deep down we know this is simply not possible. The best we can hope for is that all of the interested parties in the region act responsibly and in moderation. I found "The Last Forest" to be great way to get up to speed on these fascinating and complicated issues. Highly recommended!

Mark London and Brian Kelly come back to the Amazon after having written about it back in the 1980s. They find a very different world, where they find development alongside with poverty and environmental degradation. The book is centered upon understanding the different regions (states) within the Amazon and the differing dynamics within them. The book will not give definitive answers to the region's problems, but rather paint the picture and suggest directions in which we should move.

A main and important conclusion is the realization that the Amazon is not a pristine jungle without people, but rather that people are an integral part of it, and that any solution needs to take into account the widespread presence of population -- the concept of sustainable development needs to include good living standards for people within the forest. The book also points to some successes in preservation, such as the establishment of the Manaus Free Trade Zone as a means of attracting people away from the interior and providing good living standards.

The book flows from a history of the Amazon as a portuguese colony, to a Brazilian outpost to the center of the rubber world, to present day. A few key players are highlighted, such as Blairo Maggi (governor of Mato Grosso and the largest soy farmer in the world) and Eduardo Braga (governor of Amazonas and responsible for the reduction of deforestation by 53% in the largest Amazon state). It is also a travel book, highlighting the many different places and realities seen by the authors, from the wealthy shopping malls of Manaus to the poor slums of Altamira.

Highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to get a good image of the current status of development in the Amazon and hoping to understand the direction in which the region is moving.

The Last Forest is a well-balanced analysis and description of the current plight of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil. This is the second book the authors have produced on the Amazon; their first book on the Amazon was published over twenty-five years ago, when only three percent of the forest was deforested. Currently, twenty percent of the Amazon has been deforested. Their main thesis is that the idea that the Amazon should be left alone is a fallacy, considering some ten million people live there. The book is packed with case studies of lives, cities and towns, and businesses in the Amazon, which helps one begin to grasp the political, economic, and social realities of the region, and to understand why there is no easy solution to preserving the rainforest while at the same time promoting the well-being of those who live in it. The authors do an excellent job of presenting to the reader both the international and Brazilian views of the Amazon, which are often conflicting views. In addition, a good historical background is presented in order to help understand the region today. The book is well-written, which makes for an engaging read. This a very good introduction for anyone interested in the Amazon, and should be read by anyone who will be travelling to the region.

I read this -- and a bunch of other stuff about Brazil -- for a class. It was good, although the information is dated, with the most recent statistics and facts not being more recent than 2007 or 2008. However, if you don't care about "the latest" but are just interested in Brazil and what remains of the Amazon, as well as what has replaced it, this is well written, informative and entertaining.

This is an interesting book. However, it presents a very (North) American (US) view of the problem of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. There is little mention of the works Brazilian scholars themselves have written about the deforestation taking place in their forest. There is also very little critical analysis or thinking. For example, in one passage, pp.198-200, the authors show very little understanding of the causes of poverty in Brazilian society. Comparing two families that live along the river, they wonder why one family manages to have a clean house while another live in squalor. The best they could come up with was to wonder if the difference is environmental or biological. I would not recommend this book to people who have not read books such as Anderson's "The Dynamics of Deforestation and Economic Growth in the Brazilian Amazon, Campari's "The Economics of Deforestation in the Amazon: Dispelling the Myths, and Barbosa's "The Brazilian Amazon Rainforest: Global Ecopolitics, Development, and Democracy," among other critical analyses of the situation.