Interesting book about a person I knew nothing about! I'm glad I read it, but the author meandered a bit too much. The narration was also not great.

This work is the biography of Cândido Rondon, a Brazilian explorer, scientist, and conservationist who was alive during the late nineteenth to mid twentieth centuries. An indigenous Brazilian himself, he spent his life lobbying for the protection of indigenous South Americans as well as mapping unexplored portions of the Amazon and establishing a telegraph line through the wilderness. He also led the 1913-1914 Roosevelt expedition, although traditionally in the U.S. he’d been demoted to a mere “companion” of Roosevelt.

A problem with listening to a nonfiction book rather than reading it is that it isn't always clear when the author is using their own words or quoting someone. There were a few instances when the language used had negative connotations or was antiquated (e.g. "...because this place was so remote and backward, he never knew his birthday" and the term "Indian" for indigenous South American peoples). Now if these are quotes from historical documents, then using the terms "backward" and "Indian" makes sense. If these were the author's own words, it would be a problem considering this book was published in 2023. I'm going to give the author the benefit of the doubt and assume these were not his own words.

There was much exploration of Positivism and how that influenced Rondon’s life both positively and negatively. The book did get in depth into the philosophy and religious aspects of Positivism in an effort to explain many of Rondon's decisions. It was interesting to learn that those following these tenets were unable to run for or hold political office, join a scientific or literary society, or engage in journalism, just to name a few things. I enjoyed how the author emphasized that Rondon’s embracing of these tenets kept him from making as big an impact as he could have, especially relating to indigenous rights. Part of what made this read so compelling (aside from just how amazing this man was) is that the author didn’t shy away from pointing out the areas where Rondon could have done better, or did something that ended up hurting others, or even acted on his pettiness.

It was also fascinating to hear about the struggles in placing telegraph poles through a swamp that is larger than Great Britain. It sometimes took almost three hours to position one pole, and there was at least one recorded death by piranhas and encounters with quicksand. He also treated the indigenous peoples like people and spent much time learning their customs and important ecological information from them. Relying on incorrect maps that were the only ones available, remapping 20000 square miles of land, and portaging dugout canoes that weighed 900 pounds are just some of the struggles he faced during his time in the Amazon.

The last 25% of the book focuses on his last decades, which means a deep dive into politics. While I didn’t find this part of the book quite as engaging, it was an interesting look at the political issues of the time and how Rondon got pushed, pulled, and manipulated by those with different political agendas.

This read is an informative, well-articulated, and fascinating history that also included some oral history from indigenous peoples. Granted, I've always had a weak spot for exploration and the Amazon, but I think this read would be suitable for anyone interested in history and an important explorer of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries who had a major and lasting impact on Brazil. Many thanks to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for allowing me to read this work, which will be published 30 May 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I love this
the narrator is great
pretty quick for a 15 hour listen
Learned a lot about a guy I've never heard of before

The Amazon jungle is a vast frontier of land not mapped at the turn of the 20th century. Candido Rondon partnered with indigenous groups to lay telegraph lines and to maps out parts of the land. In 1914-1914 Rondon along with former president Teddy Roosevelt traversed part of an unknown river. The expedition had a lot of incidents during the trek. Rondon classed politically with many men of Brazil which impacted his ability to help the indigenous people of Brazil. One reason Rondon was so successful with the indigenous people was that he worked with them as a partner instead of a colonizer. This book provides an account of who Rondon was and how he made a huge impact on the history of Brazil.

I didn’t know anything about Rondon when I started listening to the book but I’ve started doing more research on the man. I’ve watch videos of him and the Roosevelt expedition. I’ve talked with my colleagues about this book and they in turn have also found Rondon to be an interesting person & waiting for the library to get a copy of either the book or audio. The writing style was easy to follow and understand, it wasn’t overly “academic.” The narrator was really good. I started listening to it at normal speed and then sped it up to 2.0.