Fabulous account of an Amazonian rainforest and its destruction
355308
As a person who loves nature, and an environmentalist who has a deep feeling for biodiversity, I LOVED this book.  Couldn't put it down. Sat in a chair from morning til night, getting up only for bare essentials, until I'd finished it. Gave it to my friends and they raved about it. Just the title, Mother of God, had intrigued me because, whatever people meant when they named this tributary of the Amazon Madre de Dios, the name infers to me how a rainforest river is the birthplace of an explosion of life. I liked the author a lot.  His explorations are courageous, his story is amazing, he is an excellent writer.  His desire to be a scientist, but live and write as a lover of what he studies is on the right course. This book is how I want to be taken to the Amazon or any other wild place as a reader. It made me want to go there, despite snakes, crocodiles and mosquitoes. His recent exploit, after the book was published, of trying to get eaten by an Anaconda for a film (which can be seen on YouTube)is not on a right course. Perhaps the great success of his book has gone to his head. I was appalled, but scientists and environmentalists alike often have to figure out whether they are going to promote the environment or promote themselves; save nature or exploit it for fame; live one's life or make an exhibition of it. Rosolie is young, he has all the makings of a great modern explorer, he has time to make mistakes and learn from them. I hope he survives whatever attack of terrible judgement caused him to undertake getting swallowed by an anaconda, that he continues his documentation of the wild Amazonian rainforest, lives humbly and writes more books like this.
1732862
I read this book between 27 January and 12 February, 2013. I enjoyed this book and the education of the many good Amazonian tribes. This book was everything I expected in terms of the historical story of rubber, the Amazon, and the encroachment of humans upon a necessary resource. Parts of the book will cover the environment by default but this isn't the topic of the book. The topic is the history of rubber. My interest in this book is the attachment it has to the Second World War and the Imperial Forces of Japan in their capture of the Malayan peninsula because of their need for rubber. The rubber grown there were started as a result of the smuggled seeds from Brazil through one Henry Wickham. A terrific story that will take you on many journeys. I am giving this 4 stars as opposed to 5 because I believe another 100 pages of material could have been added based on scientific evolution and production numbers; slight more detail in this regard would have suited this book better. However, it is a very good story and historical account
12440
A great historical adventure.  It gives moving and frank insight into our greatest modern President.  The insights into the native people of the Amazon is even handed and very enlightening.  The discussion of the animals and biology of the Amazon is thorough and well researched.  We just visited Ecuador and the upper Amazon.  If  I had read this book before I went, it would have made the trip even more meaningful than it already was. I absolutely recommend it for anyone with a spirit of adventure and a desire to learn.  If you visit Brazil, read this book first.
3764446
This book is excellent! We've been on the Carribean side of Costa Rica twice, but after reading this book, I definitely want to visit the southwestern part of Costa Rica too. And if you're interested in the human impact on our natural world, this is an eye opening book. I highly recommend it!
1626132
The author takes the reader by the hand and gives us an up close view of the gritty existence of life in the jungles of Guyana, and of the overwhelming culture shock of coming to America; thereafter having `twice' to do battle with lawyers and the court system, and winning! Some people have no idea that others in underdeveloped countries live out their lives the way the author of this book has.

Anyone with even second hand knowledge of what life is like near the Amazon Basin, in Guyana, will understand that it is `the element of surprise' that makes this story so believable. Mrs. Olson makes no attempt to invent, color, or justify a connection between the sudden encounters of life threatening situations, and the reasons for finding herself in them. She was there, she dealt with it on the spot, and luckily she survived.

As if life in Guyana wasn't hard enough, Mrs. Olson fled from a low life wife beating alcoholic/rapist father and extreme poverty bordering on starvation, `deep' into the Jungles of Guyana where she found an old school bus and built a home out of it, eventually raising four children there! To live life with the strength, courage `and' enthusiasm the way Mrs. Olson has under these conditions is truly awe inspiring. I believe that this story has profound spiritual significance if only because it reminds one of how often we take things for granted.
4584931
Robyn Davidson has given us a very personal tour of her amazing persona - from her decision to make this journey to her excellent narrative of the disgraceful way the Aborigine culture has been destroyed by the conquering hordes, just as was done in the US to the native Americans.  Her understanding of the magnificent country she traversed with her precious camels and, of course her wonderful dog, Diggity, gives insight into an ecology that is unique in the world and is not appreciated as it should be.  She is to be commended for having taken on this challenge and presenting it to the world in such a special way.
806017
I found the book thrilling and chilling. The author provides clear and engaging description of the beauty of diverse and numerous beasts found in the game parks of East Africa. The thrill and chill of observing millions of migrating wildebeests and associated species of antelopes on plains of Masai Mara and Serengeti, and their predation by lions, crocodiles, hyenas, cheetahs, and leopards provide captivating reading. Several times, the author and accompanying tourists had frightening and memorable narrow escapes from charging elephants, rhinoceroses, and buffalos.

Unfortunately, after some 15 years of relatively happy life in Africa, a most foul catastrophe visited the author. On March 1, 1999, while observing gorillas in the Impenetrable Forest in southwestern Uganda, a band of Rwandan rebels attacked the tourist camp, temporarily kidnapped the author and 30 tourists, and killed 10 persons. This cruel and murderous act through the hand of man, not "beast," left a devastating experience on the life of Mark Ross and many others.

As the title of the book indicates, Mark Ross described things that are beautiful and dangerous in Africa, or in any adventures on life's wild side. The narration is informative, sometimes humorous, and always captivating. Reading the book caused me to relive my own remarkable experiences as a safari guide to a team of international students when I studied at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, in the early 1980s.
3334273
I could not put this book down.  This is an excellent book on pre-Columbian America.  The book presented a very stimulating account of the major civilizations in Mesoamerica and the Andes.  The text illustrations and color plates were very helpful.  If you need to read one book on pre-Columbian America, this should be it!  This should be a required reading at the college level.  Hats off to Nicholas Saunders.
4651701
Its clear from the geological record that the history of life on Earth has been punctuated with dramatic and drastic changes in the global climate. In this book, Bill McGuire, gives a vivid account of four types of extreme natural disaster, supervolcanic eruption, tsunami (wrongly called tidal waves in English), catastrophic earthquake and cometary or asteriodal impact, all of which have plentiful precendents in Earth's history, and presents an entirely plausible account of the disastrous consequences in global climate, the resultant human and biosphere changes and even the consequences to the global economy. Bill McGuire writes wittily and with style. He brings a grim sense of humour together with a zest for geology and geophysics, which manages to translate what could be a dry recollection of past geological events into an exciting and fascinating dialogue. My favourite(!) disaster concerns the tsunami hazard to the United States posed by a little known volcano in the Canary Islands. I'll be watching the news very carefully for news about the Cumbre Viejo volcano from now on! Weird prophetic point: how did the author know that the International Space Space would be christened "Alpha"? Not quite five star material. A few more diagrams and photographs would be a big help. All in all, an excellent book of science and serious scientific speculation. Recommended.
1790026
Scared of Monsanto?  Worried about the Monsanto Protection Act?  So am I.  Fortunately, I met Professor Spears at the Virginia Festival of the Book in 2015 and purchased a copy of her book.  "Baptized in PCBs" is a riveting story about the destruction of the once beautiful part of northern Alabama.  Destroyed by Monsanto - the chemical giant who manufactured PCBs - and destroyed by the US Army's realization that they had to do something with their stockpiles of chemical weapons after the Cold War.  But equally destroyed by racial prejudice and social injustice.  "Baptized in PCBs" is much more than a text book, although it should indeed be required reading for environmentalists, historians, and everyone interested in social justice.  It is a fascinating look at how money breeds entitlement.  Fortunes were made without a moment's regard for who or what was killed, sickened,or  destroyed.  Read it a weep...
2470776
This book is one of the best books I have got in touch recently on the great expedition in search of the birth of one of the greatest river in the world. Christopher Ondaatje had written this book in a manner that it takes the reader in a virtual travel and smooth transition from one culture to another from the river delta to the origin, blended with the cultural exposure and pictorial essays. The book helps the reader not only to gather knowledge of the great river but also the diverse culture of the African sub continent.

Recommend this book if you are truly eco traveler and nature lover.
2126339
Amazingly well researched account of the corporate and political plunder of the American indians and the environment of the western states. This book details how big corporations and our government collude to divide nations and exploit the planet for political and financial gain at our expense, often with our tax dollars. Sadly, these schemes are a worldwide problem and apparently unstoppable.
I highly recommend this unforgettable and important book and thank the author for her years of dedicated research to write it.
1898611
History and Amazon ecology merged with courage, vividly told. Roosevelt is portrait as a great but flawed man driven by ambition and adventure on a journey of nearly fatal danger. Riveting reading that I disappeared into only emerging several days later. Read it while in Brazil hiking in the forests which made it even more real.  Highly recommended.
4587643
Sterling Evans' The Green Republic is a fascinating account of the development of the NP of Costa Rica.  I've visited most of the parks in CR and after reading The Green Republic I have a greater appreciation for them and high admiration for the Costa Rican individuals and non-natives who through hard work, luck and perserverence have created a system of parks unique to Latin America and the world.
I particularly enjoyed the anecdotes about the indivuduals and also the tremendous amount of facts the book contains--facts that have a purpose as they paint a complex picture of a country struggling to do the right thing despite enormous pressures to cash in for the easy dollar.  The book perhaps does read a bit dry at times, but the overall story is well told and worth the time and money.  Great book!
1287523
How often have you've heard the tales of gloom and doom regarding the deforestation of the tropics?  Undoubtedly, the numbers are grim and the outlook for many forests is not good.  This is why this story, wonderfully told by William Allen, a science writer at the ST. LOUIS DISPATCH, is particularly refreshing and guardedly optimistic.
Allen craftily weaves anecdote with history, real people with events to present a story that tells how a relatively small park in NW Costa Rica (Guanacaste National Park) developed into the Guanacaste Conservation Area, some 10 times larger than its original size.  But the story is not limited to the success in creating a larger park.  Rather, the author depicts the efforts of a determined group of Costa Rican and foreign scientists (led by Daniel Janzen) as they attempt to reverse the effects of deforestation and actually bring a substantial area back to some semblance of its original state.
The story delves quite a bit into Janzen's personality and raises the issue of a foreigner's role in a project such as this.  Would it succeed without him?  Just what would it take to restore non-virgin forest?  Is this an idea that might work elsewhere?  Just a few of the intriguing questions dealt with in this book.
I particularly enjoyed the beginning of each chapter, where the author introduces an anecdote upon which the rest of chapter usually builds.  The anecdotal information is highly entertaining of itself, and when used as metafor, it is easier to remember the larger points made.
If you're into eco-whatever, this is great stuff...
paul e.
1999538
This is a rare look at what has only turned into another "Get rich quick at all cost and cause another ecological disaster" paradigm that seems to be so prevalent on our planet these days. It's a sad commentary on our times written with heart and insight. It was a real eye-opener for me, and I appreciated the up-close look at yet another travesty of our ecology perpetrated by money hungry humans and easily bought out government officials. How do some find it so easy to  sell out the planet and it's people for fast cash?

I will be watching this issue now and pray that this untold story of the Mangrove's fight for life falls into enough hands to make a difference for this very important piece of our ecology and those who depend on it. I highly recommend this book for nature lovers everywhere!
1035560
If you are to visit the Land of the Maya, and the short sections on "History and Culture" in even the Lonely Planet or the Rough Guides aren't enough for you, then this is the book you'll want. The author is an expert in three keys to the Maya: (1) a thorough knowledge of the ecology of the tropical forests of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, and of present day Mayans living there; (2) a command of the literature of modern Mayan studies, including the great synthesis of ecological-archeological research and the deciphering of classis Mayan writing which has overturned almost every old National Geographic cliche about "the mysterious Maya"; and (3) decades of professional experience in the creation and defense of ecological and cultural parks and reserves in the heart of the largest lowland tropical forest closest to the US.

The result is an insightful, informed window into a people and their forests, which can both benefit by your visit if you do it right. The major limitation of the book is it doesn't cover enough of the Mayan world, as it is limited to the lower elevation forests and Mayans where the Mayan Mexican states intersect the Peten of Guatemala and Belize.  Many wonderful Mayans live in "cold country" in the mountain uplands of Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas, but they and their pine-oak forests are not represented here, nor any of the speakers of the Huastecan branch of Mayan languages in the tropical deciduous forests of the hills of Veracruz state further north and west in Mexico.  But if you are bound for the lowland forests where the ramon trees grow, this book will help you appreciate how and why the ramons have saved the Maya from famine and disaster for millenia in the past, and why the trees and their people should be protected and defended today.