David Grann - The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon Review

The Lost City of Z is a fascinating account of Col. Percy Fawcett, one of the last and most famous "individualist" explorers who helped to map the Amazon and became fatally obsessed with finding conclusive evidence of a sophisticated and large civilization in the Amazon jungle which he referred to as The Lost City of Z. 

I started reading this book at my wife's suggestion.  She went to college with the author, David Grann.  I continued reading it because it was educational, fascinating, and very well written.  The story of Col Fawcett is told by the author both as a well researched piece of investigative journalism and as a personal story of discovery and exploration when Dave ventured into the Amazon himself to retrace the last and fateful journey of Col Fawcett and his son.

You will learn about all manners of insects, animals and conditions that plagued explorers who ventured into the Amazon.  You will come to appreciate and get a sense for the sense of the times in the early 1900s before sophisticated technology and satellite imagery and the bravery of the explorers who endured months or years of imaginable hard ship and death to help the world better understand unmapped areas of the world.  And most of all, you will come to share the authors fascination and appreciation of the wonders of the region and a man on a mission.