The River of Doubt, by Candice Millard, is a must-read book for anyone contemplating an Amazon basin fishing trip. Theodore Roosevelt's little-known trip down a previously unexplored tributary of the Amazon River is an adventure of the first magnitude. His experiences in the Amazon rain forest and his harrowing trip down the River of Doubt, provide valuable perspective for the modern day adventurer. The book's description of the rainforest jungle and the ever-changing river, his glimpses of the indigenous tribes, and the constant focus on stretching the meager supplies to the end of the trip are spellbinding. Roosevelt almost dies on this trip, and, in fact, never really recovers from it. In honor of Roosevelt;s heroic trip, the Brazilian government re-named the River of Doubt, the Rio Roosevelt.

Readers will find this book very difficult to put down. It is an adventure well-worth reading in its own right, but it should be required reading for anyone contemplating an Amazon River trip. My companions on a recent Amazon fishing trip undoubtedly grew tired of hearing my comparisons of our own experiences with those of Roosevelt, but the parallels added a great deal to my own enjoyment of the trip. In fact, I found the book so gripping and so pertinent to modern adventure on the Amazon, that I have reread it twice since returning from there. I have also taken great delight in locating the Rio Roosevelt on a modern map of the Amazon basin.