The Brazil Reader: History, Culture, Politics  •  Robert M. Levine  •  John J. Crocitti CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1999 •  PAPER  • 525 PAGES • COMING IN A diverse selection of letters, interviews, excerpts and other documents from early colonization to contemporary literature, this book is an excellent overview of the history and culture of Brazil. Each selection and author is introduced by the editors. Half the book is devoted to contemporary issues. (BZL12, $25.95)
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)
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)
The Far Side of the World  •  Patrick O'Brian LITERATURE •  1992 •  PAPER  • 366 PAGES This tale, set in 1812, features a trip around Cape Horn, as Stephen Maturin, Patrick O'Brian's wonderful opium-addicted naturalist, explores the New World with his pal Jack Aubrey. If you haven't yet been introduced to O'Brian's vivid portraits of Nelson's British Navy, here's your chance to dip into this fine series, with a book featuring evocative descriptions of Patagonian wildlife and features of the natural environment. A great read (and a great reread for O'Brian fans). (SAM01, $13.95)
A Guide to the Birds of Venezuela  •  Steven Hilty  •  Guy Tudor  •  J.A. Gwynne FIELD GUIDE •  2002 •  PAPER  • 929 PAGES A thoroughly overhauled, revised edition of the classic South American bird guide, with an entirely new and expanded text by Steve Hilty (who also wrote Birds of Colombia). This hefty book (more than a field guide) features many of the same excellent color plates by Guy Tudor as the 1978 classic with new detailed information on habitats and distribution. Too bad it weighs four pounds, two ounces because it is terrific. John Gwynne provided most of the additional plates, 67 in all. 1,400 species have been recorded in the diverse habitats of Venezuela, almost half of the birds found throughout the mountains, forests and plains of all South America. (FG13, $59.50)
A History of Brazil  •  E. Bradford Burns HISTORY •  1993 •  PAPER  • 579 PAGES • COMING IN A wide-ranging social, intellectual and cultural history of Brazil. (BZL02, $26.00)
In Amazonia, A Natural History  •  Hugh Raffles NATURAL HISTORY •  2002 •  PAPER  • 302 PAGES Hughes -- an intriguing, personal guide to the Amazon -- interweaves anecdote, ethnography, the history of exploration, conservation and biology in this engaging overview of the region. He focuses on a small Brazilian riverine community and the transformation of their river over the last 50 years. Make no mistake, this is an academic book chock full of theory but an uncommonly artful, absorbing one. Hughes is a professor of anthropology at the University of California at Santa Cruz. (AMZ85, $25.95)
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)
Knopf Mapguide Rio De Janeiro  •  Knopf Guides GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 48 PAGES A handy set of full color, ingeniously folded maps, each indicating favorite sites, shops, restaurants and attractions. (BZL55, $9.95)
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)
Lonely Planet Rio de Janeiro  •  Regis St. Louis GUIDEBOOK •  2008 •  PAPER  • 248 PAGES In its hallmark style, this practical guide to the Brazilian city by Lonely Planet features maps, a good overview of culture, history and nature, and much nuts-and-bolts information on excursions, accommodations and sightseeing. With color photographs, excellent travel information and a pullout map. (BZL19, $19.99)
The Mapmaker's Wife  •  Robert Whitaker HISTORY •  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, $13.00)
The Naturalist on the River Amazons  •  Henry W. Bates EXPLORATION •  1987 •  PAPER  • 420 PAGES A spell-binding early account of the river and its environs, first published in 1863. A talented naturalist himself, Bates accompanied Alfred Russel Wallace on a collecting expedition for the British Museum in 1848. He stayed on for 11 years, traveling throughout the region. This classic chronicle of his adventures, part natural history and part travelogue, has inspired generations of tropical biologists. Darwin liked it too. (AMZ07, $24.95)
Rain Forest Revealed  •  DK Publishing EXPLORATION •  2004 •  HARD COVER  • 48 PAGES • YOUNG READERS (Age 4-8) A colorful illustrated children's guide to the plant and animal life of tropical rainforests, featuring transparent pages that allow young readers to explore the subject from many angles. (NAT66, $12.99)
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)
Rough Guide Brazil  •  David Cleary GUIDEBOOK •  2003 •  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, $24.95)
Sacred Leaves of Candomble: African Magic, Medicine, and Religion in Brazil  •  Robert A. Voeks RELIGION •  1997 •  PAPER  • 236 PAGES A fascinating scholarly report on the ethnobotany of African religious and healing traditions in Brazil. Voeks, a geographer, documents the transformation -- and perseverance -- of Candomble beliefs and practices in the New World. With 33 black-and-white photographs and six maps. (BZL29, $25.00)
The Sea and the Jungle  •  H.M. Tomlinson EXPLORATION •  1995 •  PAPER  • 258 PAGES First published in 1912, this is a thoroughly unromanticized, absorbing account of a 2,000-mile journey by steamship deep into the Amazon. The tale, understated and often hilarious, meanders like a great river. Here's a sample: "We were then a thousand miles from the sea, well within South America. But that meeting place of the Amazon and its chief tributary was an expanse of water surprising in its immensity." A classic. (AMZ10, $18.00)
The Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon  •  Michael Goulding  •  Ronaldo Barthem  •  Efrem Ferreira NATURAL HISTORY •  2003 •  HARD COVER  • 254 PAGES An illustrated atlas of the 4000-mile-long river, including its major tributaries, with 150 full color maps and 300 photographs. Michael Goulding (Floods of Fortune) and Brazilian biologists Ronaldo Barthem and Efrem Ferreira provide the accompanying text. Organized geographically, with chapters on major tributaries and drainage basins in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. (AMZ82, $39.95)
The War of the End of the World  •  Mario Vargas Llosa  •  Helen Lane LITERATURE •  2008 •  PAPER  • 576 PAGES Written by one of South America's foremost authors, this story depicts the violent clash between leaders and neglected citizens of a newly formed republic set in Canudos, Brazil, in the late 19th century. (BZL18, $16.00)
With Broadax and Firebrand, The Destruction of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest  •  Warren Dean HISTORY •  1997 •  PAPER  • 504 PAGES A vivid, scholarly environmental history of Brazil from early settlement through the 1990s. Once extending along the coast of much of Brazil, the coastal forest has been burned, cleared and cut down to make way for Brazil's largest cities, mining, farming and industrialization. (BZL31, $29.95)
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, Lêda Leitão Martins, John Peters, and Terence Turner. (SAM67, $22.95)
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, Lêda Leitão Martins, John Peters, and Terence Turner. (SAM67, $22.95)