Brazilian Adventure: A Quest into the Heart of the Amazon - Softcover

Peter Fleming; New Foreword By Giles Foden

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1848857918 ISBN 13: 9781848857919

Publisher: Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2011

Synopsis

In the summer of 1925 Colonel Fawcett - soldier, spy and legendary explorer - embarked on a journey into the dark and uncharted heart of Brazil in search of the lost 'City of Z'. He was never seen again. Rumours abounded - that Fawcett had been killed by Indians or wild animals or that he had lost his memory and become chief of a cannibal tribe - and many became obsessed with discovering what had become of him. In 1932, when 'The Times' advertised for 'guns' to join an expedition to find Fawcett, the lure was too great for a young Peter Fleming and he immediately signed up, intending to send dazzling dispatches from the jungle. The expedition set out from Sao Paulo and, following tributaries of the Amazon, headed to Fawcett's last-known position. What followed was, in Fleming's words, 'a venture for which Rider Haggard might have written the plot and Conrad designed the scenery'. As the expedition forged its way deeper into the Amazon, disagreements fractured the group and the entire adventure ended in a chaotic race to be the first to report back home. Though the fate of Colonel Fawcett remains a mystery, Peter Fleming's wild escapade in the heart of Brazil has become one of the 20th century's best-loved travel classics. 'The best travel book I have read for a long time. It is crammed with sound observation, good writing, humour and a unique blend of disillusion, foolhardiness and high spirits.' - J.B. Priestley; 'This account of the expedition has that essential double interest which is characteristic of all really great books of adventure. Fleming has the most delightful sense of humour and he writes brilliantly.' - David Garnett; 'An extraordinarily good book.' - Sunday Times; 'Fleming's classic is essential reading for anyone interested in this country. An inspiration to pursue the same trackways in search of a departing world.' - Kirkus (UK); 'A unique book of exploration, which defies the canons and sets up a new standard for itself. With delicious irony and undercurrent of humor, the author tells of the ill-considered, casually planned trip into central Brazil. He makes mild adventures of what most writers would consider hairbreadth escapes from starvation; he minimizes the discomforts of the tropics; he paints amusing portraits of his fellow travelers… all entertaining reading. For the customer who takes his escape literature with a spice of humor. Book of the Month Selection.' - Kirkus (US)

About this title

About the Author

Peter Fleming, OBE, (1907-1971) was a journalist and writer and one of the great travel writers of the twentieth century. He began his career as a special correspondent with The Times and later wrote for The Spectator. He served with the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War and from 1942 was in charge of military deception operations in Southeast Asia. He is the author of several classic books, which include Brazilian Adventure, To Peking (The Peter Fleming Collection, Tauris Parke Paperbacks), One's Company and News from Tartary. Later he wrote accounts of historical events in lands through which he had travelled, namely The Siege at Peking, Bayonets to Lhasa and The Fate of Admiral Kolchak. In his memory, The Royal Geographical Society established The Peter Fleming Award for projects that seek to advance geographical science.

Edition details

• Publisher: Tauris Parke Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1848857918
• ISBN 13: 9781848857919
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384