Books by Category » South America

Head Hunters of the Amazon: My Adventures in the Jungle 1894-1901 By Fritz Up de Graff One of the all-time greatest adventure books. Up de Graff -- a recent graduate of a U.S. engineering school -- tells of his adventures in the Andes and down the Amazon during the late 1800's. More than once he was near death, but his brains, education, youth, and dumb luck got him through. You can't go wrong with tales about vampire bats, electric eels, murderous poachers, giant whirlpools, 30 foot anacondas, backwater village louts, and of course headhunting at its best. Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-233-9 Pages: 248 $19.95

Jungle Paths and Inca Ruins: Our Exploration of the Upper Amazon By William M. McGovern In 1925 anthropologist William McGovern found himself, accompanied by only a camera man, on his way to Brazil. For the next two years he was an enthusiastic "participant-observer," living with several different tribes, on their terms. This is a detailed, often funny, always fascinating natural history adventure. Ripping! Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-204-5 Pages: 328 $23.95

The Naturalist on the River Amazons: The Search for Evolution By Henry Walter Bates Bates spent 11 years from 1848 to 1859 in the lower Amazon basin, collecting 14,712 specimens -- 14,000 of them insects, at least 8,000 of those new to science. This is an exploration, not just of the jungle, but of scientific theory: Bates was an early believer in Darwin's new (and hotly debated) theory of natural selection, and he was searching for proof. Did he find it? Charles Darwin himself wrote the introduction. A classic natural history adventure. Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-197-9 Pages: 368 $24.95

The Pampas and Andes: A Thousand Miles' Walk Across South America By Nathaniel H. Bishop Bishop was a mere lad of 17 in 1855 when, with 45 in his pocket, he left Massachusetts bound for South America. Pursuing a love of natural history, he arrived in Buenos Ayres, ascended the Plata and Parana Rivers, walked across the pampas and the Saline Desert, hiked over the Andres into Chile, and at Valparaiso caught a boat for home. Barely able to speak the language, he slips quietly through South America, eyes open. The ultimate boy's adventure. Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-242-8 Pages: 240 $15.95

The Voyage of the Beagle: Darwin's Five-Year Circumnavigation By Charles Darwin Charles Darwin's father at first refused to allow his 22-year-old son to go on this voyage around the world in 1831-1836: he felt it was not a wise career choice. Fortunately, his father relented, and we have Darwin's journal, which may be the greatest scientific travel narrative ever written. Revised by the author in 1860, this is an account of his experiences on the Beagle, which led to his formulation of the theory of evolution. He was able to observe coral reefs, fossil-filled rocks, earthquakes, and more -- first-hand -- and made his own deductions. Original (of course) and entertaining! Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-106-5 Pages: 400 $29.95

Voyage of the Liberdade: A Journey from Brazil to America in a Hand-Built Boat By Joshua Slocum Joshua Slocum's life aboard his sailing ship, the Aquidneck, forms the first part of this true adventure. Plying his trade along the coast of Brazil, Slocum encounters cholera and forced quarantine, a mutinous crew, and finally a shipwreck in 1886. He waits for help in Brazil; it doesn't come, so he and his family build the Liberdade, a 35' cross between a dory and sampan. They sail the "canoe," as he calls it, back to America. This was Slocum's first book. His better-known "Sailing Alone around the World" was his second. Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-108-1 Pages: 106 $11.95

Voyage up the River Amazon: Including a Residence at Para in 1846 By W. H. Edwards In 1846, Edwards, an American naturalist and author of "Butterflies of North America" headed for the Amazon. He made it back and published one of the first adventures about anacondas, piranhas, electric eels, and army ants -- as well as the richness of the jungle and peculiarities of the native societies. This very book inspired Bates and Wallace to go to the Amazon the following year, "to solve the problem of the origin of the species." Read More... ISBN: 1-58976-244-4 Pages: 228 $14.95