The River of Doubt

Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

De: Candice Millard

Narrado por: Paul Michael

At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth.

The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.
After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.
Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived.
From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt’s life, here is Candice Millard’s dazzling debut.©2005 Candice Miller; (P)2005 Books on Tape

Reseñas de la Crítica

“A rich, dramatic tale that ranges from the personal to the literally earth-shaking.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“[A] fine account . . . There are far too many books in which a travel writer follows in the footsteps of his or her hero—and there are far too few books like this, in which an author who has spent time and energy ferreting out material from archival sources weaves it into a gripping tale.” —The Washington Post

“No frills, high-adventure writing . . . Millard’s sober account is as claustrophobic as a walk through the densest jungle, and as full of vigor as Roosevelt himself.” —Entertainment Weekly

River of Doubt

This work is a must listen for anyone interested in TR, Amazonia, tropical diseases, eqauatorial rainforests and the living things in them. In retrospect, this beautifully read work is brilliant because of its sheer depth and breadth. Every wound, sliver, bird, native and whitewater rumble is there for the listener to imbibe. Nearly every unique personality of the expedition party is woven into the this tale of naive and brash exploration. If you listen carefully you can be with them in the jungle without risk.

A Glorious Listen

This is the story of Teddy Roosevelt's trip through the Amazon rain forest to explore the newly discovered River of Doubt in 1913. If I were teaching school I would use this book for almost any subject: science, geography, political science, history, etc. Lots more fun than textbooks.

The narrator is Paul Michael, who is as good as Scott Brick or George Guidall. Audible indicates it is read by Richard Ferrone, but that applies to the abridged version. This is one of those rare non-fiction books that reads like the best novel. I find it very hard to believe that this is by a first time author.

One nit I have to pick is that there is no mention of Tweed Roosevelt, Teddy's great grandson, who repeated the trip in 1992 (finding that the cannibals by then were watching satellite TV!).

This is a book I would never have opened in paper, and I would have been much the poorer for it.

This is not a biography, but an exploration of a region that even today we don't know much about, incidentally undertaken by a former US president.

Great audio book

The author made this account of traveling through the Amazon exciting and informative at the same time. Great narration, fast paced, overall worth a listen.

Liked it

This is not normally the type of book I would read or listen to, and I can't remember what prompted me to buy it. Having said that, I quite enjoyed it. This expedition was something I had never heard about. I wouldn't say all the details were fascinating, but they were interesting. Sometimes I felt like I was on this expedition with them. It really is sort of amazing that they survived. I thought the narration was good, which is important in an audio book. I recommend it, especially if history, Theodore Roosevelt, the Amazonian wilderness of Brazil, or adventures are your thing.

A Great View of a Great Man

This book does a great job of weaving the historical, biological, and political history of the time into a very compelling recounting of a particular exploration. The only shortcoming was a slight tendency towards repetitiveness, but overall a very worthwhile read.