River of Doubt

Theodore Roosevelt has been crushed by his defeat in the presidential election of 1912. And so, like any other former president, he decides to trek to Brazil to explore a tributary of the Amazon river. Plus, he decides to explore not just any tributary, but a tributary only mapped by native tribes that many had unsuccessfully tried to descend before him. Millard uses diary entries from Roosevelt and his son (who joined him on the adventure), an incredibly-researched trove of archival material from the U.S. and Brazilian governments and libraries, plus interviews with the descendants of the native tribes Roosevelt encountered to craft a non-fiction book that reads like an adventure novel. I couldn’t stop reading it – you feel it as Roosevelt’s co-commander, famed Brazilian explorer Colonel Cândido Rondon grapples with revolution among the men on the expedition, as he and Roosevelt disagree on the expedition’s goals, as Roosevelt hovers near death or suicide. And even though you know the ending (it is non-fiction, after all), you won’t be able to put it down.