This beautifully written history traces the fortunes of Charles Darwin and his contemporaries in Chile. It explains how they showed Chileans a new way to see their own natural environment, teaching a younger generation of scientists there and forging international networks that helped to shape the modern world.

A gripping tale of a shipwrecked Spaniard who walked across America in the sixteenth century, from a Bancroft Prize-winning historian.**“Once you start this book, it's nearly impossible to put it down.” -**Washington PostIn 1527, a mission set out from Spain to colonize Florida. But the expedition went horribly wrong: Delayed by a hurricane and knocked off course by a colossal error of navigation, the mission quickly became a despe...

Up until very recently it was believed that in 1491, the year before Columbus landed, the Americas, one-third of the earth's surface, were a near-pristine wilderness inhabited by small roaming bands of indigenous people. But recently unexpected discoveries have dramatically changed our understanding of Indian life. Many scholars now argue that the Indians were much more numerous, were in the Americas for far longer and had far more ecological impact on the land than previously believed. Th...

The true story of a colorful and momentous 16th-century voyage, and of the Black mariner whose accomplishment was almost lost to history.It was a voyage of epic scope. In a Spanish plot to break Portugal's trade monopoly with the fabled Orient, four ships set sail from a hidden Mexican port. The smallest of them was guided by Black seaman Lope Martín, one of the most qualified pilots of the era. Mutiny, murderous encounters with Pacific islanders, and extreme physi...

Stretching for over 5500 miles, and containing the highest active volcanoes in the world, the largest salt flat, the highest lake, and peaks rivalled in size only by the Himalayas, the Andes impress by statistics alone. But beyond the range's sheer immensity is its concentration of radically contrasting scenery and climates. In this remarkable book, Michael Jacobs journeys from the balmy Caribbean to the inhospitable islands of the Tierra del Fuego, through the relics of ancient civilizati...

Patagonia is the ultimate landscape of the mind. Like Siberia and the Sahara, it has become a metaphor for nothingness and extremity. Its frontiers have stretched beyond the political boundaries of Argentina and Chile to encompass an evocative idea of place. A vast triangle at the southern tip of the New World, this region of barren steppes, soaring peaks and fierce winds was populated by small tribes of hunter-gatherers and roaming nomads when Ferdinand Magellan made landfall in 1520. A f...

Amazonia contains by far the world's largest river and the greatest expanse of tropical rain forest, home to the greatest biological diversity on the planet. This enthralling book brilliantly explains why the rain forest is crucial for our planet's survival, and vividly describes the passionate struggles that have taken place to utilize, protect and understand it. John Hemming's thrilling account recalls the adventures and misadventures of intrepid explorers, Jesuits and the rubber barons ...

One of the humble aims of this book is to introduce one interesting aspect in Rizal's life, that is, his so-called family life. In light of recent findings, this book discusses what happened to Rizal's parents, siblings, and some nephews and nieces after his martyrdom. Clarifying various historical controversies and discrepancies, it deals with issues like the 'secrets' of Rizal family (e.g. whether or not Soledad was Jose's sister).Whenever appropriate and needed, significant comm...

Under history and romance genres, this book co-produced by OurHappySchool.com and Philippine-Guide.com scholarly narrates Jose Rizal's romantic relationships with Segunda Katigbak, Leonor Valenzuela, Leonor Rivera, Consuelo Ortiga y Rey, Seiko Usui, Gertrude Beckett, Suzanne Jacoby, Nellie Boustead, and Josephine Bracken.Relevantly, History professor Jensen DG. Mañebog, the author, also features the girlfriends' respective biographies and discusses some debated issues like Rizal's ...

Most travelers to eastern Puerto Rico come to see and hike El Yunque, the island's second-most-visited tourist destination after Old San Juan, and probably the world's most user-friendly rain forest. Others come for the east coast's three sprawling resort hotels, half a dozen excellent golf courses, the US Navy base, and one of the biggest yachting and sailing charter ports in the Caribbean. But this side of the island has much to offer that eludes most visitors to Puerto Rico, from a glor...

Famed for its breathtaking isolation, Easter Island was a verdant South-Sea idyll when a small canoeful of Polynesians arrived in c. AD 700. Centuries later the island's statues were famous throughout the world. This book presents a comprehensive history of Easter Island told by a writer who is intimately familiar with the island, its people and their extraordinary story.When voyaging in the South Pacific became far less widespread around 1500, Easter Islanders became stra...

A Prehistory of South America is an overview of the ancient and historic native cultures of the entire continent of South America based on the most recent archaeological investigations. This accessible, clearly written text is designed to engage undergraduate and beginning graduate students in anthropology.For more than 12,000 years, South American cultures ranged from mobile hunters and gatherers to rulers and residents of colossal cities. In the process, native South Ame...