Be Specific About Books Conducive To River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
| ISBN: | 0553807501 (ISBN13: 9780553807509) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Buddy Levy
Hardcover | Pages: 324 pages Rating: 4.12 | 1762 Users | 128 Reviews
Identify Containing Books River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
| Title | : | River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon |
| Author | : | Buddy Levy |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 324 pages |
| Published | : | February 22nd 2011 by Bantam |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. Travel. Adventure. Biography. Survival. Historical |
Interpretation As Books River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
From the acclaimed author of Conquistador comes this thrilling account of one of history’s greatest adventures of discovery. With cinematic immediacy and meticulous attention to historical detail, here is the true story of a legendary sixteenth-century explorer and his death-defying navigation of the Amazon—river of darkness, pathway to gold.In 1541, the brutal conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his well-born lieutenant Francisco Orellana set off from Quito in search of La Canela, South America’s rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, “the golden man.” Driving an enormous retinue of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, hunting dogs, and other animals across the Andes, they watched their proud expedition begin to disintegrate even before they descended into the nightmarish jungle, following the course of a powerful river. Soon hopelessly lost in the swampy labyrinth, their numbers diminishing daily through disease, starvation, and Indian attacks, Pizarro and Orellana made a fateful decision to separate. While Pizarro eventually returned home barefoot and in rags, Orellana and fifty-seven men, in a few fragile craft, continued downriver into the unknown reaches of the mighty Amazon, serenaded by native war drums and the eerie cries of exotic predators. Theirs would be the greater glory.
Interweaving eyewitness accounts of the quest with newly uncovered details, Buddy Levy reconstructs the seminal journey that has electrified adventurers ever since, as Orellana became the first European to navigate and explore the entire length of the world’s largest river. Levy gives a long-overdue account of the native populations—some peaceful and welcoming, offering sustenance and life-saving guidance, others ferociously hostile, subjecting the invaders to gauntlets of unremitting attack and intimations of terrifying rituals. And here is the Amazon itself, a powerful presence whose every twist and turn held the promise of new wonders both natural and man-made, as well as the ever-present risk of death—a river that would hold Orellana in its irresistible embrace to the end of his life.
Overflowing with violence and beauty, nobility and tragedy, River of Darkness is both riveting history and a breathtaking adventure that will sweep readers along on an epic voyage unlike any other.
Rating Containing Books River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
Ratings: 4.12 From 1762 Users | 128 ReviewsCommentary Containing Books River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
A new book by Buddy Levy examines an attempt to conquer the fabulously wealthy Amazonian empire based at El Dorado, which didn't exist. Levy previously wrote Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs, a clear and effective account of that massacre, and this will apparently contain significant exploration into just how widespread Amazon culture really was - a topic intriguingly but briefly covered in Charles Mann's terrific 1491: New Revelations of the Americashttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I found this book to be very interesting. I had no idea of the extensive exploration done along the Amazon by the conquistadores. Its incredible what they accomplished with so few men and so little in the way of supplies. The suffering they endured is amazing. The men and equipment they lost to hostile natives and the elements is staggering. Just the fact that it was a successful expedition deserves more recognition. Levy carefully explains the personal, political, and economic circumstances
I was actually a little disappointed with this book. I had hopes that it would be a lot better than it was. While the subject matter was very interesting, and some of the book was very good, I found that it got quite repetitive after a while. "Travel down the river...encounter some native indians...battle the indians to get some food...continue down the river...repeat..." It came a bit boring and I had some difficulty getting through it.
River of Darkness tells story Francisco Orellana's journey down the Amazon River from its Andes headwaters to the Atlantic Ocean in the 1540's. Orellana and his small band of Spanish mercenaries were the first Europeans to make the trip. Their survival and discoveries were nothing less than miraculous. This book merits four or five stars for the effort put into its creation and for its ultimate quality. Still, when I finished reading this history, I found myself not satisfied.Positives: 1. The
When Spanish ships first reached the Americas in 1492, they had no idea of the size of the lands on which theyd set foot, nor did they realise that they were twin continents in their own right. Columbus died believing hed found an alternative route to the Indies, because although the early explorers new the world was a sphere, they thought it was much smaller than it turned out to be. Only eight years after Columbuss first landing, the mouth of the Amazon was discovered, and the rivers size
I always have a soft spot for books that deal with the "age of exploration ", but at the same time I can't avoid thinking of the destructive aftermath for the native communities these explorations brought. This book deals with the search by the Spanish for "el Dorado" and the discovery and eventual exploration of the Amazon river "the longest river in the world ", it deals with how the idea of conquering the tribes alongside this river drove the Spanish explorers mad , and they launched
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