Free Downloads The River Of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth.The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the . Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived.From the soaring beauty of the rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt’s life, here is Candice Millard’s dazzling debut.
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Broadway Books; 1st edition (October 10, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0767913736
ISBN-13: 978-0767913737
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1,348 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #3,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1 in Books > History > Americas > South America #2 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Latin America #7 in Books > History > World > Expeditions & Discoveries
Anyone who enjoyed Stephen Ambrose's Undaunted Courage or any other tale of exploration and hardship will love River of Doubt. Candice Millard's new book chronicles the expedition of Theodore Roosevelt and his Brazilian co-commander, Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon, down one of 's last unexplored tributaries in 1914-the River of Doubt. The 400-mile river trip tested every ounce of the ex-president's intellect, courage, and physical stamina. Millard's book, therefore, is more a tale of survival than adventure.Roosevelt and his American companions were woefully unprepared for their journey. They brought boats too large to be of use on a shallow river, and had to rely instead on Indian-made dugouts-canoes designed more for local transportation on flat water than long-distanced descents through rapids. The American and Brazilain members of the group often had to portage these heavy, waterlogged boats around rapids, which cost the group both time and precious food supplies.Food proved to be one of the most vexing problems of the journey. Much of the canned food shipped from the United States was too heavy to be carried to the expedition's launching point in the Brazilian highlands, and had to be discarded. Instead, Roosevelt hoped to augment his increasingly meager rations with game shot along the way. Unfortunately, the rain forest did not offer much bounty and the group ended up eating monkeys and piranhas to survive-creatures far more difficult to kill than deer and antelope.If that were not enough, disease plagued the expedition at every corner. Kermit, the son of President Roosevelt, fought malaria for most of the trip and Theodore almost died when he contracted a deadly bacterial infection from a small flesh wound.
This is a fascinating account of Theodore Roosevelt's expedition through the Brazilian wilderness in The River of Doubt. This book was especially interesting for me as my great great grandfather is Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon, the co-commander of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific expedition which put the Rio de Duvida, later renamed the Rio Roosevelt, on the map.The author is a former writer and editor for National Geographic magazine and brings that adventurous spirit and knowledge into her writing. She did extensive research for the book into not only the history of the region but also the biology. But this information isn't just tossed into the book for the sake of trivia. Instead she weaves each piece of info into the story. For example, she discusses Roosevelt's foreign policy specifically as it relates to South America while, in the story, Roosevelt's ship is steaming toward Brazil. At other points she discusses fish as large as sharks in order to explain the type of psychological pressures the men were up against as they went along their journey. Also, when helpful for the story, she details relevant biographical information for the purpose of character development.The story reads like a fiction novel though it is a well-documented and footnoted true story. The suspense involved makes it a page-turner that you don't want to put down. All in all, she fits a broad range of biography, history, and biology into a fascinating true story that reads like a suspense fiction. If you are into to nature, adventure travel, history, or even just quality books, this is the one for you.I didn't know much about my great great grandfather, Rondon for short, until I read the book. Today he is national icon in Brazil. Kind of like a Lewis & Clark type of figure.
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt Time For Kids: Theodore Roosevelt: The Adventurous President (Time for Kids Biographies) Theodore Roosevelt for Kids: His Life and Times, 21 Activities (For Kids series) Who Was Theodore Roosevelt? Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt Rough Riders: Theodore Roosevelt, His Cowboy Regiment, and the Immortal Charge up San Juan Hill Selected Speeches and Writings of Theodore Roosevelt The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism Let the People Rule: Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of the Presidential Primary The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt, A Lifetime of Exploration, and the Triumph of American Natural History The Camping Trip that Changed America: Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and Our National Parks Listening For God: A Ministers Journey Through Silence And Doubt River of Dreams: the Story of the Hudson River River of Love in an Age of Pollution: The Yamuna River of Northern India A Treasury of Mississippi River Folklore Stories, Ballads, Traditions and Folkways of the Mid-American River Country Fishes of the Middle Savannah River Basin: With Emphasis on the Savannah River Site Streams to the River, River to the Sea AMC River Guide New Hampshire/Vermont (AMC River Guide Series) AMC River Guide Maine (AMC River Guide Series)
