BNOB: "The Lost City of Z" by David Grann

(What does BNOB mean?)

The principal figure in this book is Percy Fawcett, a largely overlooked turn of the previous century explorer.  Much of what is now known about South America sets upon a solid foundation established by Fawcett.  Indeed, much of the Brazilian borders deep in the Amazonian jungle were painstakingly surveyed by Fawcett and members of his multiple crews. 

Although Fawcett is the principal figure, his quest for a lost civilization – The Lost City of Z – is what drives the events in the narrative.  Not only for Fawcett, but also for at least two other very recent expeditions to the same area – one by the author David Frann, and another by South American banker James Lynch.

 

Fawcett and his multiple explorations, as well as his military service in World War I, take up a full 75% of the book, and in this sense, the book is one part biography, one part history, with a little geography and anthropology thrown in for good measure.  (Spoiler alert.)  The overleaf and other prefatory matter of the book do little to hide the fact that things do not end well for Fawcett, his son, and his son’s best friend who accompany him on the last journey.  Still, the story has enough strength and relevance to the known outcome that it is enjoyable to read.  The disappearance of Fawcett, et al, as well as ‘The Lost City of Z’ is called the ‘greatest exploration mystery of the 20^th century’, and this is what compels Lynch’s and Grann’s journeys.

 

Although the book is excellent in its own right, I enjoyed it all the more because of its intersection with other things I have read, learned, or experienced.  Among these are Fawcett’s early exploits in Bolivia, somewhat near where my 2007 mission trip occurred.  Also, many of Fawcett’s explorations occur at the same time that my favorite president – Theodore Roosevelt – was exploring the River of Doubt (later named Rio Roosevelt in his honor) in 1914 with Brazilian colonel (later general) Rondon.  In fact, Rondon and Fawcett encounter each other at the end of the book. Candace Millard’s book “The River of Doubt” recounts Roosevelt’s exploration and is a book I read a few years back.

 

This is an excellent book.  I give it a 9 out of 10.