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Tree of Rivers: The Story of the Amazon | 
 enlarge | Author: John Hemming
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $22.90
You Save: $17.05 (43%)
New (33) Used (8) from $22.65
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 27293
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 7 x 1.7
ISBN: 0500514011
Dewey Decimal Number: 551
EAN: 9780500514016
ASIN: 0500514011
Publication Date: May 26, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081012212256T
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
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 world's 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 Hemming's account of the river and its history is full of the 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, entrepreneurial 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 world's 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 to protect it. 70 illustrations, 20 in color.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Sincerely disappointed September 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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 does deserve 10 stars. August 10, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
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.
Mind- Boggling June 22, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
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!!!!!!!!!!!
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