Grann, D: The Lost City of Z [Lingua Inglese]: A Legendary British Explorer's Deadly Quest to Uncover the Secrets of the Amazon - Brossura

Grann, David

Brossura

ISBN 10: 1847394434 ISBN 13: 9781847394439

Casa editrice: Simon & Schuster Ltd, 2010

Riassunto

**NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING ROBERT PATTINSON, CHARLIE HUNNAM AND SIENNA MILLER** `A riveting, exciting and thoroughly compelling tale of adventure'JOHN GRISHAM The story of Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, the inspiration behind Conan Doyle's The Lost World Fawcett was among the last of a legendary breed of British explorers. For years he explored the Amazon and came to believe that its jungle concealed a large, complex civilization, like El Dorado. Obsessed with its discovery, he christened it the City of Z. In 1925, Fawcett headed into the wilderness with his son Jack, vowing to make history. They vanished without a trace. For the next eighty years, hordes of explorers plunged into the jungle, trying to find evidence of Fawcett's party or Z. Some died from disease and starvation; others simply disappeared. In this spellbinding true tale of lethal obsession, David Grann retraces the footsteps of Fawcett and his followers as he unravels one of the greatest mysteries of exploration. `A wonderful story of a lost age of heroic exploration' Sunday Times `Marvellous ... An engrossing book whose protagonist could out-think Indiana Jones' Daily Telegraph `The best story in the world, told perfectly' Evening Standard `A fascinating and brilliant book' Malcolm Gladwell

Su questo libro

Recensione:

‘British explorer Percy Fawcett vanished into the Amazon in 1925. David Grann’s The Lost City of Z follows him into the jungle’s ‘green hell’ in search of answers’
Seven 2009 Cultural Planner, Sunday Telegraph 28/12
‘A genuine page turner’
BBC Focus Feb issue
‘A cracking read...marvellous’
Geographical Magazine March issue

‘In 1925, the gentleman explorer Colonel Percy Fawcett entered the Amazon rainforest in search of a mythical ancient kingdom: Z. He was never seen again. What happened to him, and to the countless men who followed in his footsteps? David Grann reports’
5 page serial, Sunday Telegraph 22/2

‘It sounds clichéd to describe The Lost City of Z as a cracking read, but it is. It’s also a story of magnificent obsession. Grann’s greatest achievement, however, is in capturing something of the essence of Amazon, and the brooding menace that lurks within the ‘green hell’
Book of the Month, Wanderlust March issue
‘The Boy's Own adventure story of the year has already arrived. New Yorker journalist David Grann's book - subtitled "A Legendary British Explorer's Deadly Quest to Uncover the Secrets of the Amazon" - traces the doomed attempts to find a mythical (possibly) early civilisation in the depths of the Amazon jungle. Its hero is Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, last of the great, mad British explorers and inspiration for his friend Conan Doyle's classic The Lost World. In 1925, Col Fawcett set off amid great pomp and publicity with his son and his son's best friend, to discover this lost city, which he christened Z. They never returned. Subsequent attempts to learn what happened to the Fawcett expedition also ended in death and disappearance. Now Grann, an extremely unlikely adventurer, sets out on his own obsessive mission, to disinter Fawcett's story and also, perhaps, to find Z himself. It's a cracking book, brave and funny, full of snakes and spears and spies, outlandish diseases, hype and heroics. No wonder Brad Pitt has optioned the movie rights’
GQ.com 31/03
‘[an] outstanding book...terrifically exciting’
Scotsman 12/03

‘In Fawcett’s swashbuckling Boy’s Own tradition’
Saga Magazine March issue

‘David Grann’s book is the latest of many attempts to discover what happened to him (it is thought that a hundred people have died in the course of these attempts). But what makes it so different from the others is that it appears at a time when the world has forgotten Fawcett. ...And this is what makes David Grann’s book so interesting. Everything in it does ring true. No nonsense about 60-foot anacondas (‘the longest officially recorded one is 27 feet nine inches’)... And no nonsense about lost cities, except that Grann has a surprise in store for the reader in his very last chapter...But the most fascinating part of his book is when he writes about recent archaeological discoveries’
The Spectator 26/3
‘Marvellous...this is an engrossing book, whose protagonist could outmarch Lara Croft and out-think Indiana Jones. The turn-of-the-century world, and the Royal Geographical Society’s efforts to push back the frontiers of cartographic ignorance, are beautifully described. It’s almost enough to make you want to reach for your backpack’
5 Stars, Telegraph 2/5
‘[A] genuine page turner’
Editor’s choice, BBC Knowledge May issue
‘Compelling...much more than a Boys Own tale of derring-do in deep jungle...vivid’
Literary Review 28/5
‘David Grann has produced an absorbing book about Fawcett...He brings vividly to life the almost unbelievable hardships Fawcett faced...this is a wonderful story of a lost age of heroic exploration’
The Sunday Times 07/06
‘It is the best story in the world, told perfectly. It’s like the cartoon UP but without the irritating, heartwarming coating’
Best Books of 2009, Evening Standard 18/11
‘An excellent book’
Ben Macintyre, The Times 7/1
‘Grann’s book vividly brings to life the horrors that Fawcett faced... A wonderful story of a lost age of heroic exploration’
Sunday Times 4/7
‘Grann brilliantly unravels the mystery of the explorer Colonel Fawcett, who disappeared in the Amazon jungle in 1925’
Sunday Times 4/7
‘Grann’s book vividly brings to life the horrors that Fawcett faced... A wonderful story of a lost age of heroic exploration’
Sunday Times
‘Grann cleverly knits together Fawcett's story with his own attempts to find Z... a ripping yarn’
Observer, paperback of the week 11/7
 
‘A skilful and spirited retelling of Fawcett’s obsessional quest’
Guardian 10/7
 
‘A lip-biting story and he tells it well’
Sunday Telegraph 11/7
 
‘Grann’s book vividly brings to life the horrors that Fawcett faced... A wonderful story of a lost age of heroic exploration’
The Sunday Times 4/07
 
‘Grann brilliantly unravels the mystery of the explorer Colonel Fawcett, who disappeared in the Amazon jungle in 1925’
Daily Telegraph 3/7
‘Grann’s enthralling narrative documents his quest to uncover one of the greatest mysteries of the Amazon’
The Times 17/7
‘A fantastic, almost fantastical, story. It would be gripping enough as a history; the wonder of it is that Grann actually succeeds in reaching some intriguing conclusions. Marvellous stuff’
Daily Mail 23/7
'A fascinating true story'
Scottish Sunday Herald 18/7

L'autore:

David Grann is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He has written about everything from New York City's antiquated water tunnels to the hunt for the giant squid. His stories have appeared in several anthologies. He has written for the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the New Republic. He lives in New York with his wife and two children.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Data di pubblicazione: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1847394434
• ISBN 13: 9781847394439
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 352