The Lost City of Z (Hardcover) - A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

영국인 탐험가 퍼시 포셋이 남긴 일기와 탐험일지, 브라질 국립도서관이 소장하고 있는 아마존 탐험가들의 행적 등을 총망라하여 포셋의 마지막 행적과 황금의 땅으로 알려진 엘도라도의 흔적을 추적한다. 미국 최대 서점체인 반즈앤노블이 뽑은 2009년 올해의 책 비소설 1위에 올랐으며 브래드 피트가 직접 제작하고 주연으로 등장하는 영화가 2010년 개봉 예정으로 제작 중이다. 영국 포병장교 출신인 탐험가 퍼시 포셋(Percy H. Fawcett)은 수차례나 아마존 밀림지대를 직접 누비며 사전 조사를 마친 뒤에, 1925년 1월 아마존으로 향했다. 세계 언론이 '현존하는 최고의 탐험가'라고 칭찬하는 가운데 의기양양하게 밀림으로 들어간 그는, 불행하게도 아마존으로 간 후 반 년 만에 소식이 끊겼다. 뉴요커지 외부기자이자 르포작가인 저자는 포셋 대령의 흔적을 추적하는 동시에 인류의 오랜 숙제인 아마존 밀림 속의 고대문명을 찾아 떠나는 혼자만의 대모험에 착수한다. 미지의 세계에 도전하는 불멸의 인간정신을 숨가쁘게 추적한 탐험 미스터리의 걸작이라는 극찬을 받은 이 책은 아마존닷컴에서도 상반기에 비소설 부문 8주 연속 베스트셀러 1위를 차지한 바 있다. A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, and Denver Post Bestseller In 1925, the legendary British explorer Percy Fawcett ventured into the Amazon jungle, in search of a fabled civilization. He never returned. Over the years countless perished trying to find evidence of his party and the place he called “The Lost City of Z.” In this masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, journalist David Grann interweaves the spellbinding stories of Fawcett’s quest for “Z” and his own journey into the deadly jungle, as he unravels the greatest exploration mystery of the twentieth century.Interweaves the story of British explorer Percy Fawcett, who vanished during a 1925 expedition into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, with the author's own adventure-filled quest into the uncharted wilderness to uncover the mysteries surrounding Fawcett's final journey and the secrets of what really lies deep in the Amazon jungle. 125,000 first printing.A grand mystery reaching back centuries. A sensational disappearance that made headlines around the world. A quest for truth that leads to death, madness or disappearance for those who seek to solve it. The Lost City of Z is a blockbuster adventure narrative about what lies beneath the impenetrable jungle canopy of the Amazon. After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, acclaimed New Yorker writer David Grann set out to solve "the greatest exploration mystery of the twentieth century": What happened to the British explorer Percy Fawcett and his quest for the Lost City of Z?In 1925 Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, hoping to make one of the most important discoveries in history. For centuries Europeans believed the world’s largest jungle concealed the glittering kingdom of El Dorado. Thousands had died looking for it, leaving many scientists convinced that the Amazon was truly inimical to humankind. But Fawcett, whose daring expeditions helped inspire Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, had spent years building his scientific case. Captivating the imagination of millions around the globe, Fawcett embarked with his twenty-one-year-old son, determined to prove that this ancient civilization—which he dubbed “Z”—existed. Then he and his expedition vanished.Fawcett’s fate—and the tantalizing clues he left behind about “Z”—became an obsession for hundreds who followed him into the uncharted wilderness. For decades scientists and adventurers have searched for evidence of Fawcett’s party and the lost City of Z. Countless have perished, been captured by tribes, or gone mad. As David Grann delved ever deeper into the mystery surrounding Fawcett’s quest, and the greater mystery of what lies within the Amazon, he found himself, like the generations who preceded him, being irresistibly drawn into the jungle’s “green hell.” His quest for the truth and his stunning discoveries about Fawcett’s fate and “Z” form the heart of this complex, enthralling narrative.