Through the Brazilian Wilderness

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬Theodore Roosevelt's account of his expedition to explore the Amazon River (known as the River of Doubt) shows a lot of the reasons we still admire him. First, he was a serious scientist. He was dedicated to discovering new species of wildlife (and could rattle off their Latin names with the best of them), mapping unknown stretches of river, and observing the ways of foreign lands. We know Teddy Roosevelt as a physical character and often forget what a highly intelligent man he was. Second, his writing is greatly under-appreciated. He doesn't breeze over his descriptions of wildlife or the landscape--it's pretty technical stuff--but he does it clearly and concisely. As someone who has labored through countless pedantic textbooks, I took comfort in his words, "Ability to write well, if the writer had nothing to write about, entitles him to mere derision. But the greatest thought is robbed of an immense proportion of its value if expressed in a mean or obscure manner." Third, despite the above, he could still endure enormous physical hardship at an old age. Battling rapids, hauling canoes, fighting disease, and hunting game, Roosevelt had the combination of brawn and intelligence that's seriously lacking in our leaders today. This book is also a great window into a time and place forever lost to history.