John Hemming recalls the adventures and misadventures of intrepid explorers, fervent Jesuit ecclesiastics and greedy rubber barons who enslaved thousands of Indians in the relentless quest for profit. He also tells of nineteenth-century botanists, fearless advocates for Indian rights and the archaeologists and anthropologists who have uncovered the secrets of some of the Amazon's earliest settlers.<BR>Hemming discusses the current threat to Amazonia as forests are destroyed to feed the world's appetite for timber, beef and soya. The rain forest is crucial for Earth's survival, and he vividly describes the passionate struggles that have taken place in order to utilize, protect and understand the wonder that is the Amazon.