'A
wonderful book... The closing chapter describes the incredible
richness of organisms found in the Amazon ecosystem... John
Hemming's Tree of Rivers... is a powerful chronicle
of the effects European cultures have had on this most diverse
and fascinating of river basins. Hemming has constructed a
brilliantly coherent history of man's exploration of and influence
on the Amazon Basin, home to the largest river on Earth...
His is a detailed and compelling account of how [indigenous]
nation after nation was destroyed... In this rich and important
tapestry of a book, John Hemming has written a history of
this most fascinating of regions that clearly shows why past
ways will not work, but that the lessons we learn from the
past can help to save a functioning, complex and rich Amazon
for the future.' (Sandra Knapp, TLS, 9 January
2009)
It
would be hard to find someone better qualified than John Hemming
to evoke both the natural splendour and biological complexity
of Amazonia and the impact of the white man and his technology…
[He] reassures his readers, without conceit, that he really
knows what he is talking about… In pleasantly paced
chapters, Hemming guides us expertly through the historical
as well as the physical landscape…
Hemming
gives us a manly epic… Its most vivid scenes concern
the men who most delight the former head of the RGS –
explorers and botanists… Most of all, Hemming honours
nature in al its overwhelming Amazonian profligacy.
(Alexander
Cockburn, The Sunday Times, 13 April 2008)
Superb
history by the former director of Royal Geographical Society.
‘You really must read’.(The Sunday
Times, 20 April 2008)
John
Hemming … combines fine-tuned historical research with
a first-hand knowledge rigorously gained from various Andean
and Amazonian expeditions. Who better, therefore, to guide
us through the long and meanderingly complex history of the
Amazon river? In Tree of Rivers Hemming takes us
deep into this region of superlatives, but remains level-headed
and informative throughout. It is the story of a gigantic
wilderness… but also a very human story.
Empathetic
with indigenous people, expert on flora and fauna, grimly
persuasive about the dangers of current clearance rates, Hemming
writes with a fluency and precision born of a deep knowledge
of his story and a deep love of the continent. (Charles
Nicholl, Seven (The Sunday Telegraph), 13 April 2008)
Few
writers have the range to cover the full canopy of the rainforest,
from its remarkable botany to its exploration and even archaeology,
but Hemming is an unusual polymath… Tree of Rivers
is consequently a book written from both the heart and the
head. Much discussion of the Amazon generates more heat and
carbon monoxide than light; this is a welcome corrective,
lucid and learned. It will stand as the definitive single-volume
work on the subject… (Hugh
Thomson, The Daily Telegraph, 12 April 2008)
John
Hemming’s loving knowledge of the Amazon’s forests
and tribes is compelling, from cruel Spaniards to modernity’s
unheeding rapacity… Hemming’s passionate storytelling
sweeps you on like the irresistible river itself.
(Martin
Hoyle, Financial Times Magazine, 15 March 2008)
Although
John Hemming has long been a widely respected scholar of the
Amazon – its forests, rivers and people – the
roots or his knowledge are much more than academic. …
What makes the book important and, in many ways, even remarkable,
are the breadth of the author’s experience and the depth
of his understanding. Throughout, Hemming scatters modest
references to his own extraordinary journeys. … Outsiders’
helplessness in the Amazon, particularly in comparison with
the deftness of its native inhabitants, is a recurring theme
in Tree of Rivers. … In Tree of Rivers, Hemming
charts the near wholesale destruction of Amazonian Indians…
[The book] is a powerful reminder that it is our responsibility
not only to protect them by leaving them alone but, if our
paths do cross, to leave gifts rather than destruction behind
us. (Candice
Millard, The New York Times, 1 June 2008)
This
is the ‘Compleat History of the Amazon’: everything
you ever wanted to know about the biggest and most important
environment left on earth, and it’s a rattling good
yarn at the same time. The spread of subjects and themes is
as wide and diverse as the geographical area itself…
John Hemming has the rare gift of interpreting wide and complex
subjects for the lay reader. His writing is always elegant
and interesting, every page full of fascinating information.
Those who thought they knew a thing or two about the Amazon
will have their eyes opened repeatedly to new, astonishing
facts about the region; while those who have never been there
will learn what a supremely captivating and significant place
it is in so many different ways.
[On
cruelty to Indians] Hemming manages to convey these horrors
graphically and with clinical accuracy, yet without succumbing
either to sensationalism or sentimentality. His intimate and
encyclopaedic knowledge of Brazil’s Indian tribes leaves
no room to doubt that what he describes is true.
John
Hemming’s passion for the great forests and the people
of Amazonia shines through this book. His command of the subject,
based on intense and meticulous research, enhanced by a lifetime
of direct experience through many expeditions, makes him the
most qualified author to have written this definitive work.
He has done his subject proud. (Robin Hanbury-Tenison,
The Spectator, 26 April 2008)
Hemming
tells [the early history] with great precision and thoroughness,
providing reliable accounts of the era’s many exploratory
adventures, political machinations, ethical debates and missionary
endeavours… For all its might, the Amazon is a woefully
fragile entity. It’s just as well that it has its champions,
and John Hemming, who has written a richly rewarding book
about the place he loves, leads the pack. (Jonathan
Wright, Geographical, May 2008)
Tree
of Rivers does for the Amazon what Alan Moorehead did
for the Nile. There are books that are well written, and there
are books that are well researched; there are those that have
authority stamped all over them, and there are those that
are written with such lyrical ease that they are a pure joy
to read. Very rarely do all these books meet within one set
of covers, and yet with Tree of Rivers every requirement
is met, and the result is a classic. (Nick Smith,
Bookdealer, June 2008)
