SKU: 57285123800

Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of

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Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization ofNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The masterful chronicle of the discovery of the legendary lost civilization of the Maya and the quest to unlock their secrets. Featuring a history and description of the major Maya sites, including Chichen Itza, Tulum, Palenque, Uxmal, Copan, and more. Illustrated with a map and more than 100 images. In 1839, rumors of extraordinary yet baffling stone ruins buried within the unmapped jungles of Central America reached two of

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The masterful chronicle of the discovery of the legendary lost civilization of the Maya and the quest to unlock their secrets.

Featuring a history and description of the major Maya sites, including Chichen Itza, Tulum, Palenque, Uxmal, Copan, and more. Illustrated with a map and more than 100 images.

In 1839, rumors of extraordinary yet baffling stone ruins buried within the unmapped jungles of Central America reached two of the world's most intrepid travelers. Seized by the reports, American diplomat John Lloyd Stephens and British artist Frederick Catherwood--both already celebrated for their adventures in Egypt, the Holy Land, Greece, and Rome--sailed together out of New York Harbor on an expedition into the forbidding rainforests of present-day Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. What they found would upend the West's understanding of human history.

In the tradition of Lost City of Z and In the Kingdom of Ice, former San Francisco Chronicle journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist William Carlsen reveals the remarkable story of the discovery of the ancient Maya. Enduring disease, war, and the torments of nature and terrain, Stephens and Catherwood meticulously uncovered and documented the remains of an astonishing civilization that had flourished in the Americas at the same time as classic Greece and Rome--and had been its rival in art, architecture, and power. Their masterful book about the experience, written by Stephens and illustrated by Catherwood, became a sensation, hailed by Edgar Allan Poe as "perhaps the most interesting book of travel ever published" and recognized today as the birth of American archaeology. Most important, Stephens and Catherwood were the first to grasp the significance of the Maya remains, understanding that their antiquity and sophistication overturned the West's assumptions about the development of civilization.

By the time of the flowering of classical Greece (400 b.c.), the Maya were already constructing pyramids and temples around central plazas. Within a few hundred years the structures took on a monumental scale that required millions of man-hours of labor, and technical and organizational expertise. Over the next millennium, dozens of city-states evolved, each governed by powerful lords, some with populations larger than any city in Europe at the time, and connected by road-like causeways of crushed stone. The Maya developed a cohesive, unified cosmology, an array of common gods, a creation story, and a shared artistic and architectural vision. They created stucco and stone monuments and bas reliefs, sculpting figures and hieroglyphs with refined artistic skill. At their peak, an estimated ten million people occupied the Maya's heartland on the Yucatan Peninsula, a region where only half a million now live. And yet by the time the Spanish reached the "New World," the Maya had all but disappeared; they would remain a mystery for the next three hundred years.

Today, the tables are turned: the Maya are justly famous, if sometimes misunderstood, while Stephens and Catherwood have been nearly forgotten. Based on Carlsen's rigorous research and his own 1,500-mile journey throughout the Yucatan and Central America, Jungle of Stone is equally a thrilling adventure narrative and a revelatory work of history that corrects our understanding of Stephens, Catherwood, and the Maya themselves.

--San Jose Mercury News

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Published: 04/11/2017
ISBN: 9780062407405
Pages: 544
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.30w x 1.30d
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SKU: 57285123800

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Vince S H
Port Orchard, US
★★★★★ 5
Great book on a great trail
Format: Paperback
A wonderful book with great pictures and rich details on the trail experience. Highly recommended. For me, it brought back rich memories of a family-group hike 38 years ago: my mother at 78, myself at 44, my brother at 40, a young adult friend in her thirties, three teen-age boys (two during one section, a different one during the rest). and three daughters (14, 10, and 8). It was a great experience for us all. Get the book as a valuable enticement and guide, and go for it!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2013
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Qtsbuster
Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 5
Fantastic Trail Guide
Format: Paperback
From the very beginning of this book, you can tell where Tami’s heart is. She genuinely loves this trail and being in the outdoors. It is written in a way to be easy to read, but filled with priceless facts and experience. I am very grateful to have this jewel at my fingertips to plan my hike of the Wonderland Trail about a year and a half from now.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2017
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Philip Deering
Grantham, US
★★★★★ 5
very useful details, and some humor
If you're going to hike the WL this is the book to get. Lots of very, very useful details, and some humor. She really understands trail hiking. Hint: to save weight download it to a Kindle. (I'm not really an Amazon employee!). Then, read the information about the section you will be hiking next in the evening before or first thing while you're eating your oatmeal. ps: The WL trail is challenging but incredibly worth it. Get the book but more important, hike the trail.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2015
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Jonsey
Natrona Heights, US
★★★★★ 5
A heartfelt, inspiring travelogue and meditation on living well
Format: Hardcover
Gordon Bernhardt's Buen Camino is a great accomplishment and a thoroughly enjoyable and thought-provoking read. Gordon opens his generous heart and extraordinary life to his readers and takes us with him, winding through a fascinating, historically informed and personally reflective commentary on the places and people of this ancient journey, his own life, memories, fears, triumphs, his personal commitment to service and growth in his life's work, and his connections with a remarkable community of fellow travelers on the road. The many photographs and questions for personal reflection at the end of each chapter were very effective. I was left with a desire to someday walk this path myself, and with a great appreciation and admiration for Gordon's persistence and positivity, both in making this journey and in his life and work.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2022
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Valerie A. Ormond
Port Orchard, US
★★★★★ 5
A Heartfelt Story to Help Us Embrace Our Personal Journeys
Format: Kindle
“Buen Camino: What a Hike Through Spain Taught Me about Investing and Life” is a heartfelt story by author Gordon Bernhardt about his adventure traveling the Camino de Santiago beginning in France and ending in Spain. It is much more than a travelogue; it is a journey into life lessons both in Gordon’s personal life but also in his professional life. He includes deep revelations, humor, and puts readers in the setting of the pilgrimage through his words and images. I highly recommend this positive book reminding readers to enjoy our moments, appreciate our fellowship with other humans, and embrace our personal journeys.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2022

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