A word of advice: If an ex-president ever offers you an all-expense paid trip to an uncharted portion of the Amazon rain forest, TURN IT DOWN!

This is another wonderfully written book by Candice Millard, author of Destiny of the Republic. In it, she manages to capture the angst and utter despair of one of the worst-planned and executed scientific research trips since Robert F. Scott’s ill-fated journey to the South Pole.

Following his loss to Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential election, the ever-restless Theodore Roosevelt was on the lookout for the next big adventure. He found it in the budding plans of an expedition to explore an unmapped Amazonian river, known as “The River of Doubt.”

Despite gathering an array of experts and men familiar with life in the jungle, Roosevelt’s expedition proved to be woefully unprepared for the brutal environment that awaited them, and which nearly cost the ex-President his life.

Even from the safe confines of home, I found myself in a constant state of nervous anticipation, wondering just how the trip could get any worse, and then finding out in the next chapter just how the trip did get worse.

I recommend this book for those looking for a real-life adventure and survival story!