Book Review: the Lost City of Z by David Grann (2009)

Percy Fawcett, a British explorer, disappeared with his 21-year-old son Jack, and Jack's best friend, Raleigh Rimell while they were looking for an ancient lost city in South America. The year was 1925. Known to others as El Dorado, Percy Fawcett called the undiscovered city simply Z.

This was not Fawcett's first venture into the uncharted jungles of the Amazon. Several prior expeditions proved to himself and others that he was a rugged, fearless and robust character. Seemingly unafraid, he outlasted his fellow adventurers who balked at bloodthirsty insects, anacondas and piranhas as well as hostile tribes they encountered on their forays into the tropics. Fawcett's ego led him to seek the news coverage and fanfare he received when he revealed his upcoming search into the South American wilderness. He became known as the "David Livingstone of the Amazon."

Since the hunting party disappeared in 1925, more than 100 explorers and scientists have perished or disappeared trying to trace the path of Fawcett and friends and the Lost City of Z. The author David Grann himself made this trip in search of Fawcett's cold trail. His travels carried him over 10,000 miles on three continents to work up the enthusiasm of backers so that he might make his way to the same jungles, rivers and villages where Fawcett might have met his fate. He did indeed cast new light on what might have happened to Perry Fawcett and his party, and even the Lost City.

David Grann had access to Fawcett's private diaries as well as interviews with his family members and friends to aid him in reenacting some of his previous adventures from which he had returned.

Percy Fawcett was the inspiration for Indiana Jones, the fictional archaeologist created by Rob MacGregor and chronicled in the third of the series, "Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils."

Movie fans may be happy to hear that the recent pictures of Brad Pitt sporting a scraggly beard are not just a whim of Brad but is part of his preparation for portraying Percy Fawcett in the movie version of The Lost City of Z. It will be interesting to see how closely the motion picture keeps to the actual story of Percy Fawcett.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com

http://www.wikipedia.com

http://www.usatoday.com/

The Lost City of Z by David Grann