Customer Reviews

Tree of Rivers: The Story of the Amazon

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tree of Rivers: The Story of the Amazon
This is a beautifully produced book, well worth its discount price at Amazon (the bookseller, not the South American basin). I was led to it by Candace Millard's favorable review in The New York Times Book Review. Hemming, a former Director and Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society in London, is a noted authority on the Amazon (the basin, not the bookseller). This volume mixes history, geography, anthropology, botany, zoology, and other disciplines into a detailed and compelling narrative covering several hundred years. You will meet many heroic, obsessed, curious, and villainous characters along the way. Much of the book describes how badly the indigenous people and the land itself have been treated. Throughout, however, the core of the story is the place itself - the rivers, the landscape, the flora, and the fauna. Once you read it you may want to make a visit.

This is an area of intense interest for me, but I was disappointed with the book. The author takes the role of Nineteenth Century explorer, not modern scientist. His biology is truly weird--calling animals "stupid" or "cute" in an anthropomorphic way. He interweaves none of the new biology or genetic anthropology that has made the study of Latin America so fascinating in the past few years.

And while he includes photos, the predominant theme is the abuse and slavery of the indigenous people. That's a fact, of course, but there is also their genius in genetic engineering, terraforming, and social systems.

The author seems to be looking at the Amazon through the eyes of some scientific colonialist.

It is a very important work. Gathered real info in years and years.
Yes, it deserves not only 5 but 10 stars. Read this book, read it with digesting its' every paragraph thoroughly. Because, people of our world have to come to an understanding what takes place on the other parts of the world other than their tiny home-towns and know if they contribute to the happenings in the Amazon.
Read this book, but before doing it, know who John Hemming is. (Born 1935). (Wikipedia.org will help). And then, you will separate this book from your others and appreciate it. This book is not read as an adventure book or love story or thriller or any other.
This book is a real subject which occurred in the past and occurring now present. His ability to reach out to your understanding is unbelievable. You will read it to the end in one opening. Unless need to use restroom.
I can only hope if it will be published in Portuguese language too so it can be read by Brazilians whom don't speak English.(I'd like to know). Because that is their land and only they can make the real difference for their own good and for the rest of the world.

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.

I recently read this wonderful book while on a cruise thru the Amazon basin. I can't think of a better way to understand the history, the indigenous people, the present day challenges, and the remarkable characters who have made such an impact on this incredible resource. If you are planning to visit the Amazon, or are just looking for a very good adventure story, this book will satisfy you.

Highly recommended.

Amazing history of the ongoing destruction of the Native Amazonians by the imperialistic and missionary Europeans from the 1500s until the present. I am so happy that this was the first book that I read about this subject because it gave a great detailed overview and inspired me to read much more about the Amazon and its people, history, culture, ecology, flora and fauna.

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!!!!!!!!!!!