Tree of Rivers: The Story of the Amazon

This book was an incredibly readable account of the history of the Amazon rainforest from the time of Portuguese colonization to present. The author’s expertise and passion come through in every sentence. He devotes ample time to each era, so that you are left feeling like you have a comprehensive understanding of how things have come to be in the present. The author is also very compassionate and discusses the abject cruelty inflicted upon indigenous peoples of the Amazon in an enlightening way. Fascinating read. It drags a bit towards the end as he decides to wrap things up with a list of Amazon facts, but the book as a whole is fantastic.

Still reading this book in preparation to cruising up the Amazon to Manaus!

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.

Mr Hemming is an amazing author. What could have been a boring “historical fact” book is instead an engrossing chronicle told by a master storyteller. I didn’t feel I was reading a dry “account “ - I felt like I was being told fascinating juicy stories about a mysterious place legends come from. I know this review sounds like a fake one- but here’s the thing- I don’t do reviews. But I had to with this book. It’s that good. And I have read parts of it aloud to my husband and my son and we have had interesting conversations as a result. I carried it with me on the plane- I read it in the airport- I read it on a rainy day snuggled up with my Maltese. It’s a very good book

This is an excellent history of the Amazon basin. For geography you might want to supplement it with The Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon Basin. If you are in a hurry you might want to try Marshall De Bruhl’s The River Sea. It has the same basic facts and is faster to read.

This is not an overview of the Amazon but a very detailed and documented history. It requires patience to get thru it. However, if you are looking for something specific you will find it here.

A truly interesting book about a complex part of the world. I would recommend it highly.

Excellent read from a writer who writes beautifully and who clearly loves the region and its peopleFantastic storytelling about the many individuals who have approached the region with different preconceptions, and how the region and its people have respondedBalanced view of the competing interests of indigenous people, Westerners, and naturePartisan only to the extent that common sense dictatesClear picture of how colonial approaches have historically and today been clouded by preconceptionsGripping picture of how Brazilian southerners today (and the political establishment) tend to see the north through historical colonial / settler lensesReally a good read and of interest to anyone interested in the Amazon, its complex past, and its difficult future

A superb book by John Hemming about the the Amazon that should be read specially by the Portuguese, who tried throughout history to wipe out the traces of an unspeakable brutal below all standards colonization in that amazing part of the world. This is a fantastic and honest history about one of the most amazing places on earth by a very gifted man.

fantastic. some of the history hear is written about in 1491 by Charles Man. the pre Colombian history is covered in greater depth by Hemming.

Fantastique récit de l'histoire de l'Amazonie. A lire absolument. Mais que de souffrances ont dû subir les autochtones du fait des colonisateurs !

Amazon川とその流域の歴史、自然、人文地理など全てを網羅した大冊だ。広範囲にこれほど詳しくよく調べたものだと感心する。私はAmazonに興味があったので読んだが、368頁の分量にはへきへきした。　当初ポルトガルは大西洋岸に拠点を持っただけだったが、カリブ海と太平洋岸に植民地を築いたスペインが山脈を越えてAmazon流域に進む困難に比して、貴金属を産する訳でもない熱帯雨林に興味を持たなかった間に、容易にAmazonを遡れるポルトガルが版図を広げ、巨大なブラジルを構築してしまった歴史を面白いと思った。またゴムがブラジルで発見され世界中に広まった歴史、その種をマレイシアに持ち出したため、ブラジルのバブルがはじけた経緯も興味深かった。　Amazonやその流域を研究する人にはBibleのような本だが、それほど興味のない人や英語で読むことを得意としない人には重荷になる本だ。

Excellent read and very informative