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1491, New Revelations of Americas Before Columbus  •  Charles C. Mann
HISTORY •  2006 •  PAPER  • 560 PAGES
A thought-provoking, speculative history of the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans. Mann portrays the successes and failures of the complex societies of the Mississippi River, Central Mexico, the Andes and the Amazon. (WLD61, $16.95)
  1491, New Revelations of Americas Before Columbus
At Play in the Fields of the Lord  •  Peter Matthiessen
LITERATURE •  1991 •  PAPER  • 373 PAGES
Set in a malarial outpost of the Amazon jungle, Matthiessen's moral thriller follows the clash between two misplaced gringos: Martin Quarrier, who has come to convert the local Indians to Christianity, and Lewis Moon, a half-Indian mercenary who has been hired to kill them. (AMZ29, $16.95)
  At Play in the Fields of the Lord
The Birds of South America, The Oscine Passerines, Vol. 1  •  Guy Tudor  •  Robert Ridgely
FIELD GUIDE •  1989 •  HARD COVER  • 596 PAGES
An authoritative reference, this hefty volume features 31 splendid full-color plates by Guy Tudor covering 700 species of jays and swallows, wrens, thrushes, vireos and wood-warblers, tanagers, icterids and finches. The first of four anticipated volumes on the birds of South America. With distribution maps and species descriptions by ornithologist Robert Ridgely. (FG28, $95.00)
  The Birds of South America, The Oscine Passerines, Vol. 1
The Birds of South America, The Oscine Passerines, Vol. 2  •  Guy Tudor  •  Robert Ridgely
FIELD GUIDE •  1994 •  HARD COVER
The second volume of the projected four-volume series, this field guide and handbook covers the flycatchers, antbirds and furnariids. With fine color plates by Guy Tudor and lucid text by Ridgely. (FG29, $95.00)
  The Birds of South America, The Oscine Passerines, Vol. 2
Brazil and Uruguay Map  •  Auto Mapa
MAP
A regional map of Brazil and Uruguay from Rio south to Montevideo and Buenos Aires at a good scale of 1:2.5 million. It includes basic city plans of Sao Paulo, Rio and Curitiba. Published in Argentina. (BZL08, $11.95)
  Brazil and Uruguay Map
Brazil in Focus, A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture  •  Jan Rocha
GUIDEBOOK •  2000 •  PAPER  • 100 PAGES
This slim guide focuses on the history of Brazil, its cultural heritage and current political, environmental and economic challenges. With maps, photographs and some travel information. It's an excellent synopsis from an unabashedly left-leaning perspective, strong on facts. (BZL03, $12.95)
  Brazil in Focus, A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture
Brazil, The Once and Future Country  •  Marshall C. Eakin
HISTORY •  1998 •  PAPER  • 301 PAGES
A well-written, concise history of Brazil, especially strong on modern society and economics, by a professor of history at Vanderbilt. In this highly recommended overview, Eakin takes a broad perspective, writing about the culture, history, religions, society and economics of the country. (BZL05, $22.00)
  Brazil, The Once and Future Country
Conquistadors  •  Michael Wood
HISTORY •  2002 •  PAPER  • 288 PAGES
A lively, illustrated account of the Spanish conquest of the New World by the intrepid writer-filmmaker Michael Wood, who traveled in the footsteps of Hernan Cortes, Pizarro and others, often by horse, raft or other original means. It's an excellent introduction to the overwhelming impact of the Spanish in the Americas, wonderfully illustrated with maps, drawings and full color paintings. (SAM48, $27.95)
  Conquistadors
The Creature in the Map, A Journey to El Dorado  •  Charles Nicholl
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1997 •  PAPER  • 398 PAGES
Nicholl uncovers fascinating facts about the original, ill-fated 16th-century voyage of Sir Walter Ralegh while describing his own experiences on the Orinoco river of today in this meeditative account of a quest for the golden city of El Dorado. (VNZ05, $22.50)
 
Culture Smart! Brazil  •  Sandra Branco
GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 168 PAGES
A concise, well-illustrated and practical guide to local customs, etiquette and culture. (BZL54, $9.95)
  Culture Smart! Brazil
Edge of the Jungle  •  William Beebe
EXPLORATION •  2001 •  PAPER  • 303 PAGES
A collection of 12 essays on the Amazon and its ecology and wildlife. A scientist-explorer with the soul of a poet, Beebe wrote dozens of books about his adventures in tropical America. This book, originally published in 1921, dates from his time as director of the New York Zoological Society's research center in Guyana. (AMZ75, $17.95)
  Edge of the Jungle
A Field Guide to Medicinal and Useful Plants of the Upper Amazon  •  James L. Castner  •  Stephen L. Timme  •  James A. Duke
FIELD GUIDE •  1998 •  PAPER  • 154 PAGES
This photographic guide to identification focuses on the practical uses of common plants of the tropical forest. Many of the 120 species illustrated and described grow along the Medicinal Plant Trail at ACEER outside Iquitos. (AMZ39, $38.00)
  A Field Guide to Medicinal and Useful Plants of the Upper Amazon
Flowers of the Amazon Forest, The Botanical Art of Margaret Mee  •  Margaret Mee
NATURAL HISTORY •  2006 •  HARD COVER  • 160 PAGES
Featuring 60 of explorer and artist Mee's splendidly detailed, gorgeous botanical illustrations, along with field sketches and diary excerpts. (AMZ104, $45.00)
 
The Green Pharmacy  •  James A. Duke
NATURAL HISTORY •  1999 •  PAPER  • 507 PAGES
An A to Z catalog of ailments and the herbal remedies that heal them. Full of facts on the ecology and traditional uses of medicinal plants by a leading ethnobotanist who has conducted much of his research in the Upper Amazon of Peru. Each chapter begins with an anecdote of an encounter with a patient and leads to easy "how-to" instructions for treating the health condition. The chapters cover minor and serious complaints, ranging from bad breath to depression, high cholesterol to wrinkles, morning sickness to viral infections. (AMZ40, $21.95)
  The Green Pharmacy
A Guide to the Birds of Colombia  •  Steven Hilty  •  William Brown
FIELD GUIDE •  1986 •  PAPER  • 836 PAGES
A classic South American bird guide with good coverage of the Amazon basin. It features 56 color plates by Guy Tudor, illustrating 1,700 species -- nearly half of all the species of South America. With a short description on the facings edge along with extensive notes and range maps. It may weigh in at almost three pounds but serious birders won't leave home without it -- and you can always have the color plates bound separately for use in the field. (FG14, $78.50)
  A Guide to the Birds of Colombia
In Search of the Golden Frog  •  Marty Crump
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2000 •  HARD COVER  • 312 PAGES
Crump, a herpetologist, conservationist and mother, tells of her 30 years of field work in Costa Rica, Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina. An entertaining memoir, written with a light touch, it combines the personal with the scientific. (CON18, $27.00)
  In Search of the Golden Frog
In the Rainforest, Report from a Strange, Beautiful, Imperiled World  •  Catherine Caufield
NATURAL HISTORY •  1984 •  PAPER  • 304 PAGES
This investigative journalist deftly combines good basic information on the ecology of the world's rain forests, a report on thorny conservation issues and a sympathetic treatment of indigenous inhabitants through masterly prose. In this fact-filled book, we travel with Caufield to some of the most spectacular and endangered places on earth: the rain forests of Africa, Central and South America, India, the Philippines and Indonesia. Originally published in 1984, this is still an excellent survey of rainforest ecology and issues worldwide. (FST01, $20.00)
 
Knopf Mapguide Rio De Janeiro  •  Knopf Guides
GUIDEBOOK •  2009 •  PAPER  • 48 PAGES
A handy set of full color, ingeniously folded maps, each indicating favorite sites, shops, restaurants and attractions. (BZL55, $9.95)
  Knopf Mapguide Rio De Janeiro
A Land of Ghosts, The Braided Lives of People and the Forest in Far Western Amazonia  •  David Campbell
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2007 •  PAPER  • 260 PAGES
This, the long-awaited sequel to Campbell's Crystal Desert, finds our scientist-hero not in the Antarctic but rather far up the Amazon not only with a paddle but also with an eccentric coterie of fellow biologists and locals. Campbell writes with flair and insight of the people, history and ecological discoveries in the far western reaches of the Amazon Basin, a place where he has focused much of his work. A tropical ecologist who has a way with words, Campbell has eight permanent study sites in the Brazilian Amazon. (AMZ90, $18.95)
  A Land of Ghosts, The Braided Lives of People and the Forest in Far Western Amazonia
Life in the Treetops, Adventures of a Woman in Field Biology  •  Margaret Lowman
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2000 •  PAPER  • 219 PAGES
The sprightly memoir of a biologist who, with her feet planted firmly on the ground, took to the trees in 1979. A pioneer in the ecology of forest tree canopies, Meg Lowman climbs, studies and sleeps in trees for a living. She's also a popular lecturer on trips to the Amazon and Director of Research and Conservation at Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota. She's remarkably frank in this engaging memoir about balancing her multiple roles as as scientist, woman, wife and mom. (AMZ57, $13.95)
  Life in the Treetops, Adventures of a Woman in Field Biology
The Lost World  •  Arthur Conan Doyle
LITERATURE •  2008 •  PAPER  • 272 PAGES
Inspired by the magnificent landscapes surrounding the Orinoco River, this classic novel follows an intrepid scientist into the jungles of the Amazon Basin in search of prehistoric creatures. One of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous stories outside of his Sherlock Holmes series, it imagined a modern world where dinosaurs roamed (well before Crichton and Spielberg made their money on the idea). (VNZ04, $10.00)
  The Lost World
The Mapmaker's Wife  •  Robert Whitaker
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2004 •  PAPER  • 353 PAGES
A harrowing tale of the 18th-century European exploration of the Amazon and one woman's quest to reunite with her scientist husband deep in the uncharted jungle. Colonial politics, the travails of the cartographer, and good old-fashioned murder all add intrigue to the proceedings. (AMZ97, $16.00)
  The Mapmaker's Wife
A Naturalist's Guide to the Tropics  •  Marco Lambertini  •  John Venerella
NATURAL HISTORY •  2000 •  PAPER  • 338 PAGES
A compact guide to the world's tropical zone, organized by biome. It's a good overview of the ecology of forests, mangroves, coral reefs, deserts, and grasslands found between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. A useful companion for travelers to tropical latitudes. With color photographs and color plates illustrating a sampling of the most conspicuous birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, and fish. (CON17, $30.00)
  A Naturalist's Guide to the Tropics
Pimsleur Quick & Simple Spanish  •  Pimsleur Language Method
LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •  2005 •  AUDIO CD
Four audio CDs with eight 30-minute lessons in basic Spanish, covering elementary vocabulary and phrases used in travel and everyday situations. The Pimsleur method emphasizes the use of listening skills without reading materials (so there isn't a book to follow along). It's advertised as "Totally audio: hear it, learn it, speak it." (SPN257, $19.95)
  Pimsleur Quick & Simple Spanish
Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing and Hallucinogenic Powers  •  Richard Evans Schultes  •  Albert Hofmann
NATURAL HISTORY •  2001 •  PAPER  • 192 PAGES
An illuminating guide to indigenous peoples and their use of hallucinogenic plants, co-authored by the father of ethnobotany and discoverer of LSD. With hundreds of photographs, maps and drawings, it documents the ecology, chemistry, and especially the social history of hallucinogens. Excellent. (AMZ38, $29.99)
  Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing and Hallucinogenic Powers
Reptiles and Amphibians of the Amazon  •  R.D. Bartlett  •  Patricia Bartlett
FIELD GUIDE •  2003 •  PAPER  • 448 PAGES
A convenient guide to 250 colorful and commonly encountered snakes, lizards, turtles, frogs and salamanders of the Amazon Basin, each with clear color photographs and descriptive information. The Bartlett team, who lead trips to the Amazon, has written a series of book on the care of herps as well as a guide to the reptiles and amphibians of Florida. (AMZ84, $29.95)
  Reptiles and Amphibians of the Amazon
Requiem for Nature  •  John Terborgh
NATURAL HISTORY •  2004 •  PAPER  • 248 PAGES • FAVORITE
A passionate and thoughtful plea for conservation of the rain forest from a noted biologist. John Terborgh's view of the fate of the rain forest, threatened by constant economic demands, can be quite dismal, but his informed arguments and his unwavering devotion to biodiversity are more than welcome. With a new preface by the author. (FST07, $29.50)
  Requiem for Nature
Rio de Janeiro Map  •  National Geographic
2011 •  MAP
This colorful National Geographic Destination Map (1:15,000) includes insets of Tijuca, Sao Crystal and Copacabana. One Side. 39x27 inches. (BZL25, $8.99)
  Rio de Janeiro Map
Rough Guide Brazil  •  David Cleary
GUIDEBOOK •  2009 •  PAPER  • 736 PAGES
This comprehensive guide includes an excellent historical and cultural overview of Brazil, with special attention to its natural history. It's a detailed travel guide with region-by-region descriptions. The outstanding British Rough Guide series provides a keen sense of life for the locals -- and isn't so "rough" after all. (BZL09, $27.99)
 
Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest  •  Matthew Restall
HISTORY •  2004 •  PAPER  • 272 PAGES
In this provocative book, Restall tackles Columbus, Cortes, Pizarro and the misconceptions surrounding them. The conquisadores most certainly did not conquer the Americas with a handful of men, nor were they received as gods. (SAM52, $19.99)
 
Snakes, The Evolution of Mystery in Nature  •  Harry W. Greene
NATURAL HISTORY •  1997 •  HARD COVER  • 288 PAGES
Published to wildly enthusiastic reviews in 1997, this illustrated volume documents the ecology and diversity of snakes worldwide. Anecdotal, informative and entertaining, snakes couldn't have asked for a better advocate than herpetologist Harry Greene -- and the photographs are stunning. (BST33, $60.00)
  Snakes, The Evolution of Mystery in Nature
South America Northeast Map  •  International Map Company
2004 •  MAP
This brightly colored map of northeast South America at a scale of 1:2,800,000 covers the Atlantic coast of the continent south from the Caribbean to Rio de Janeiro, including the Amazon and Orinoco. With historical information on the region. Two Sides. 27x39 inches. (SAM16, $8.95)
  South America Northeast Map
The Spears of Twilight: Life and Death in the Amazon Jungle  •  Phillipe Descola
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1996 •  PAPER  • 458 PAGES
Three years among the Jivaro (Achaur) of the Upper Amazon. A student of Claude Levi-Strauss, Descola proves himself to be an intelligent observer and born storyteller in this ethnographic account. (AMZ25, $25.95)
  The Spears of Twilight: Life and Death in the Amazon Jungle
Stolen Continents, 500 Years of Conquest and Resistance in the Americas  •  Ronald Wright
HISTORY •  2004 •  PAPER  • 464 PAGES
A powerful history of imperialism and resistance in the Americas, with a focus on the Aztec, Maya, Inca, Cherokee and Iroquois. Wright's illuminating account, told largely from the point of view of the losers, details the rapid collapse of cultures and societies in the Americas following the arrival of the Europeans in 1492. Wright draws on an impressive range of archival material in reconstructing this classic account, originally published in 1993. Wright is also the author of Time Among the Maya. (NAM20, $24.95)
  Stolen Continents, 500 Years of Conquest and Resistance in the Americas
Traveling with Che Guevara, The Making of a Revolutionary  •  Alberto Granado  •  Lucia Alvarez de Toledo
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2004 •  PAPER  • 240 PAGES
This is Alberto Granado's companion book to Che Guevara's well-known Motorcycle Diaries (and one of the sources for the movie). It's Granado's own account of travels with Che via motorbike through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela. (SAM68, $14.95)
  Traveling with Che Guevara, The Making of a Revolutionary
Wallpaper City Guide Rio De Janeiro  •  Wallpaper Magazine
GUIDEBOOK •  2011 •  PAPER
A stylish, thin (it fits in your back pocket) city guide compiled by the design magazine Wallpaper's local reporters. Well-organized, with chapter tabs, many photographs and of-the-moment recommendations. (BZL56, $9.95)
  Wallpaper City Guide Rio De Janeiro
Where to Watch Birds in South America  •  Nigel Wheatley
NATURAL HISTORY •  1995 •  PAPER  • 431 PAGES
A compact practical guide to 206 recommended birdwatching sites throughout South America. Organized by country, each site guide includes an introduction, noteworthy species, maps, and directions, checklists. An invaluable handbook for birders. (SAM40, $30.95)
 
White Waters and Black  •  Gordon McCreagh  •  George Schaller
EXPLORATION •  2001 •  PAPER  • 384 PAGES
A classic account of a two-year-long scientific expedition to the Bolivian Amazon, funny, sweet and thrilling. Originally published in 1923. George Schaller provides the appreciative introduction to this new edition. (AMZ70, $17.50)
  White Waters and Black
The World as You Dream It, Shamanistic Teachings from the Amazon and Andes  •  John M. Perkins
RELIGION •  1994 •  PAPER  • 139 PAGES
An activist on behalf of indigenous cultures and founder of the "Earth Dream Alliance", the author provides a personal account of his sometimes hard-to-believe experiences with curanderos (or shamans) in the highlands and Amazon of Ecuador. Whatever your thoughts on the concept a vision quest, the book includes an fascinating account of the author's time with the Shuar people, their rituals and religious ideas. (AMZ46, $14.95)
  The World as You Dream It, Shamanistic Teachings from the Amazon and Andes
Yanomami, The Fierce Controversy and What We Might Learn from It  •  Robert Borofsky
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2005 •  PAPER  • 397 PAGES
A scholarly reader and study of the controversy surrounding anthropological studies of the Yanomami of northern Brazil and neighboring Venezuela. It follows in the wake of Patrick Tierney's best-selling book, Darkness in El Dorado. With Bruce Albert, Ray Hames, Kim Hill, Leda Leitao Martins, John Peters, and Terence Turner. (SAM67, $25.95)
 
Yanomami, The Fierce Controversy and What We Might Learn from It  •  Robert Borofsky
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2005 •  PAPER  • 397 PAGES
A scholarly reader and study of the controversy surrounding anthropological studies of the Yanomami of northern Brazil and neighboring Venezuela. It follows in the wake of Patrick Tierney's best-selling book, Darkness in El Dorado. With Bruce Albert, Ray Hames, Kim Hill, Leda Leitao Martins, John Peters, and Terence Turner. (SAM67, $25.95)
 
Yanomami, The Fierce Controversy and What We Might Learn from It  •  Robert Borofsky
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2005 •  PAPER  • 397 PAGES
A scholarly reader and study of the controversy surrounding anthropological studies of the Yanomami of northern Brazil and neighboring Venezuela. It follows in the wake of Patrick Tierney's best-selling book, Darkness in El Dorado. With Bruce Albert, Ray Hames, Kim Hill, Leda Leitao Martins, John Peters, and Terence Turner. (SAM67, $25.95)
 
Jungle Travel and Survival  •  John Walden, M.D.
GUIDEBOOK •  2001 •  PAPER  • 198 PAGES
Not just for the paranoid traveler or wild adventurer, medical doctor and frequent Amazon-traveler Walden provides useful advice on avoiding malaria, parasites (internal and external), poisonous and otherwise dangerous animals, getting along with the locals, dehydration and much more in this compact guide. (AMZ73, $18.95)
  Jungle Travel and Survival

 
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