I got this good-condition hardcover from the Little Free Library at the East Congregational Church in Concord NH, while dropping off some books of my own. I enjoy tales of hardships in dangerous regions, and hadn't read this one before; it's about Roosevelt's explorations in the remote jungles of the Amazon. (In an interesting connection to my Arctic-exploration reading, one of the figures brought in to help plan the Amazon expedition was Anthony Fiala, whose attempt to reach the North Pole in 1903 failed, leaving his party stranded in the ice for a couple of years. Not, perhaps, an ideal choice for advice on a rainforest trek?)

The book taught me a lot about Roosevelt, and about another great explorer: Candido Rondon, Brazil's most famous explorer, and a man who went to amazing lengths not only to map the unknown areas of his country but to do so while befriending - or at least avoiding conflict with - the native tribes, as best he could.

The trek itself was incredibly taxing, and in the end cost three lives: one to accident, one to murder, and the third the deliberate abandonment of the murderer. It almost cost Roosevelt his life too, and undoubtedly did shorten it, as the injury he suffered in the final weeks of the journey left him badly weakened. But the efforts of Roosevelt and Rondon, as well as of Roosevelt's son Kermit and most of the rest of the team, took them through highly dangerous and previously unmapped territory, and eventually opened up a large portion of the map. [This had its downside, as - despite Rondon's best efforts - the invasion of wealth-seekers eventually had disastrous effects on the local tribes.]

The story includes personal details and historical, geographical, and botanical notes, switching between Kermit's letters to his fiancee and the expedition notes about arduous portages, loss of canoes and supplies, and encroaching disease and starvation. Quite a harrowing tale - and poignant too, especially in the epilogue; Roosevelt did not survive the trek by many years, and his death seems to have sent his son Kermit into a downward spiral that eventually ended in tragedy.

Rondon, on the other hand, lived a very long and successful life, so perhaps the expedition wasn't entirely doomed {wry grin}.

[There's a TV Tropes page on Roosevelt that's interesting and entertaining.]

I plan to leave this book in or near the museum at around 1:30 or so; hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released for the 2015 World Diabetes Day release challenge. More information at the World Diabetes Day site. ***

*** Released as part of the 2015 The 'The' release challenge. ***