Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
    Unavailable
    The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
    Unavailable
    The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
    Audiobook12 hours

    The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

    Written by Candice Millard

    Narrated by Paul Michael

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt's harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth.

    The River of Doubt-it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.
    After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil's most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.
    Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived.
    From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt's life, here is Candice Millard's dazzling debut.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateOct 18, 2005
    ISBN9781415929254
    Unavailable
    The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

    Related to The River of Doubt

    Related audiobooks

    Political Biographies For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Western Australia

      Feb 3, 2022

      Western Australia
      3 min read

    • Article

      NOW & FOREVER

      Nov 28, 2022

      NOW & FOREVER
      13 min read

    • Article

      Cândido Rondon

      Mar 18, 2021

      1865-1958 Colonel Candido Rondon was an army engineer who laid more than 4,000 miles of telegraph line through the jungles of Brazil. His expeditions into the Amazon included exploring the Western Amazon Basin, but his most famous was the Roosevelt-R

      2 min read

    • Article

      Human After All

      Mar 11, 2022

      Human After All
      3 min read

    • Article

      Alabama Reporter Discovers Possible Wreckage of the Clotilda, the Last Slave Ship to Reach US

      Jan 25, 2018

      Daylight faded quickly as Ben Raines' 22-foot boat, the Auriculatus, slid through the chilly waters of the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. Normally, Jan. 2 would be a bad day for boating. It was 25 degrees in lower Alabama, thanks to the "bomb cyclone" we

      4 min read

    • Article

      Life On The Edge

      Sep 20, 2023

      Life On The Edge
      4 min read

    • Article

      ‘Magdalena’ Meanders Enjoyably Down Colombia’s Largest River

      Jul 16, 2020

      Wade Davis narrates his fascinating, beautiful, and dangerous journey down the Río Magdalena – the heart of Colombia.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Men, Monsters, And Messiahs

      Oct 7, 2020

      Men, Monsters, And Messiahs
      8 min read

    • Article

      Awakenings From A Wild River

      Nov 18, 2021

      Awakenings From A Wild River
      9 min read

    • Article

      History, Mystery and Lore

      Jul 30, 2021

      History, Mystery and Lore
      3 min read

    • Article

      Into A Brave New World

      May 18, 2020

      Into A Brave New World
      8 min read

    • Article

      Rafting The Colorado

      Mar 1, 2019

      Rafting The Colorado
      7 min read

    • Article

      Nevertheless, Caddo Lake Persisted

      Oct 15, 2019

      Nevertheless, Caddo Lake Persisted
      11 min read

    • Article

      A Poor View

      Aug 15, 2019

      A Poor View
      10 min read

    • Article

      Urban Diversion

      Dec 3, 2019

      Erik Weihenmayer is no stranger to adversity. As the first and only blind person to summit Mount Everest, he continues to pursue seemingly impossible goals. While the title claims “No Barriers,” what it means for the rest of us is “No Excuses.” Erik’

      1 min read

    • Article

      Anniversaries

      Jan 21, 2021

      Edward IV’s brother is apparently drowned in a barrel of wine Even by the standards of medieval England, George, Duke of Clarence met a colourful end. “Take him on the costard with the hilts of thy sword,” says one of his two murderers in Shakespeare

      5 min read

    • Article

      Running Man Rock

      Nov 5, 2020

      Running Man Rock
      8 min read

    • Article

      It's A Grand Canyon

      Jul 1, 2019

      It's A Grand Canyon
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Symposium on Deserts

      Mar 1, 2019

      A Symposium on Deserts
      24 min read

    • Article

      ‘Murray’s Fools’ at 150

      Nov 1, 2019

      ‘Murray’s Fools’ at 150
      6 min read

    Reviews for The River of Doubt

    4/5

    856 ratings91 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      adventure down uncharted amazon tributary after loosing 2nd bid for president
    • 5/5
      I had read "Roosevelt's Beast" by Louis Bayard, which is a fictionalization of Theodore Roosevelt's expedition to the River of Doubt in the Amazon. I didn't love that book, but it intrigued me enough to want to read the true account (minus the mythical creature). I was not disappointed by "River of Doubt". It was an excellent adventure story and history lesson. After losing his bid for a third presidential term, Roosevelt was looking for distraction. As originally planned, his trip to South America was going to be pretty tame and was sponsored by the Museum of Natural History. However, the trip morphed into a dangerous expedition to map the River of Doubt and explore the surrounding territory. Both the preparation for, and the organization of, this expedition were flawed, to say the least. They had to split off some of the original intended explorers, losing both their expertise and a share of the provisions. An elderly priest (who had planned the original trip) was shunted off when he decided that he would explore from the comfort of a sedan chair. The remaining group of just over 20 men included Roosevelt, one of his sons Kermit, Brazilian soldiers, indians and others. Some were experienced explorers, but not always successful ones. They had to lighten their load in order to get to the river, so much of their food had to go. (A lot of it was impractical anyway. Really, you need a crate of mustard or applesauce?) Unfortunately, their boats had to go too, leaving them to forage for makeshift, leaky canoes once they reached the river. I was really surprised to learn that they brought their pet dogs (and books) with them. The actual river part of the trip took about 2 months, but I'm sure it felt like longer to them. Both of the Roosevelts were adventurers and daredevils, but they had not had to cope with the number of adversities that plagued them in the Amazon, including gruesome parasites, venomous snakes, insects, accidents, diseases, hostile indians, impassable rapids and murder. This was a really fascinating story and very well written.
    • 4/5
      A great adventure story that also reveals much about Roosevelt's character. What made him heroic and what made him a flawed human.
    • 5/5
      A pageturner!
    • 5/5
      The River of Doubt is a well-researched page turner. I don't believe that modern times have seen a U.S. president quite as colorful as Theodore Roosevelt. In addition to having been a leading statesmen, he was one of the foremost naturalists of his time. When his ego was bruised by a defeat that not only put him at odds with the Republican Party for splitting the vote but also ushered, in Woodrow Wilson, the first Democrat to rule the country in 16 years, Roosevelt decided to make use of himself outside of politics. Invited on a speech making tour in South America, circumstances aligned in such a way that Roosevelt was given the chance and challenge of a lifetime: to co-lead an expedition to explore and uncharted tributary of the Amazon, known colloquially as "The River of Doubt."It's a well worn cliche to talk about making history come alive, but Millard's book does manage to do so. I was by turns amazed, thrilled, and horrified by the book's turn of events, and even though I knew that Roosevelt survives the ordeals of the trip, it seemed impossible that he could or would. This is a wonderful piece of nonfiction writing about a grand adventure as well as a fascinating bit of history.
    • 4/5
      Great story of T. Roosevelt's Amazon journey, after he was president, and how he barely survived it.
    • 4/5
      Remarkable attempt by the ex-president to explore an unknown Amazon River tributary. The ill-prepared expedition reminds me of Scott's ill-fated attempt to conquer the South Pole. Fortunately, the co-leader of the expedition is part Indian and is the glue that holds the expedition together. TR's son Kermit is also on the expedition.
    • 4/5
      Millard paints Roosevelt's biography in broad strokes, reviewing his fragile health as a child, the loss of his mother and wife in the same 24 hours (Valentine's Day of all days), and his need to push his physical limits when faced with tragedies or failures. It is this need that sets the stage for Millard's true focus: Roosevelt's South American expedition to an uncharted tributary of the Amazon. He refused to go where everyone else had trod and yet, he expected the excursion to be ho-hum and without incident. Silly man. Millard's account of the expedition has it all, excitement, adventure, violence, death and madness.
    • 5/5
      With River of Doubt, I have finally closed the loop on Candice Millard's available histories. She is a wonderful writer who not only explores the event itself, but widens the scope of her storytelling to include the broader context of her subject. With the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, she does well in relaying the events of the journey, but the irony of why this books is so enjoyable is the Roosevelt is not wholly the focus. More than Roosevelt, the Amazon river and forest dominate this story. Millard spends ample time explaining the ecology of the region. From the scarcity of wild game to dangers of Piranha and Candiru, in the black water, we are treated to an ominous, dark, and maddening environment. The author also explains the biology of plant life; from why vines grow a certain way and the fact the dense canopy of foliage not only kept the land below dark, but also let little else grow. I give credit Millard for making the science interesting. However, what struck me the most about this story was Roosevelt's co-commander, Candido Rondon. Rondon was a career Brazilian military officer who had been exploring the Western Amazon basin for years before joining Roosevelt's expedition. Rondon was responsible for miles of telegraph wire placed in the Amazon forest. He was a disciplinarian, but one who commanded the respect of his men. Rondon was also famous for his compassion for the indigenous peoples of the Amazon. throughout his years of running telegraph wire he was also responsible for making peaceful advances to many of the dangerous tribes within the forest. He is a fascinating man and Millard does excellent work in bringing him to life. The journey down the 'River of Doubt' was fraught with challenges on both land and water. The most prevalent challenge was white water rapids and waterfalls. Countless times, the water was too rough and the expedition had to make a portage, which meant carrying the canoes over land. I am amazed by by the constitution of these men who fought disease, starvation, and injury to continue though to the end. 5 of 5 stars
    • 3/5
      First, I did not enjoy reading about an expedition itself so badly planned and disorganized. Nothing "great" about putting a lot of lives in jeopardy because you needed a diversion but couldn't be bothered do what's necessary. I lost most of my admiration for TR. The author tried but couldn't totally put a good face on the botched expedition. And too much of the book was filler: a regular encyclopedia about all things South America, and whatever must have seemed salient about the various "explorers". I suspect many readers would not enjoy such stories unless the mountain climbers fell or the boaters drowned. So they enjoyed a regular demolition derby here.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating. Millard's research and detail are amazing. As is the history the narrative describes.
    • 5/5
      Excellent reading; highly suspenseful.
    • 5/5
      Great book filled with lots of adventure definitely will recommend
    • 4/5
      Everything you ever wanted or needed to know about south American jungle rain forest, tropical fish, insects, rubber tress, pollinators, and poisonous arrows read this book and indulge yourself!Exciting and slightly romantic account of Roosevelt 's insatiable appetite for adventure and discovery will keep you up late into the night to finish this page turning account of bravery and questionable sanity of explorers. Great read. Great adventure. Long live the memory and exploits of one of our most colorful presidents.
    • 4/5
      When people think of Teddy Roosevelt they may think of his adventures with the Rough Riders, his two terms as U.S. president, or his famous saying, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” But most of us don’t think of him as an Amazonian explorer. Yet he was. Fulfilling an ambition from his childhood, in his mid-50s, he traversed an entire, thousand-mile river, placing it on South American maps. It was to be the last of his extraordinary accomplishments.Candice Milliard does a masterful job of capturing the former president, who still looms larger-than-life. While her portrayal of Roosevelt isn’t one of a noble superhero, she does manage to capture much in his character and behaviour that were great.But even if Roosevelt had been absent, it would still make a story worth telling. Milliard introduces readers to South American luminaries such as Candido Rondon, Roosevelt’s co-leader in the expedition and considered one of the greatest of 20th-century explorers. She describes the deadly native Indian tribes that shadowed the trip. The jungle itself becomes a living, suffocating character in Milliard’s narrative.This is a first-rate adventure story for anyone who loves to read about difficult journeys and heroic deeds. There are plenty of those. There are also sordid stories born of human weakness. I recommend it to anyone who loves history, is interested in the Amazonian Rainforest, or who just loves a good story.
    • 5/5
      About the journey to discover the headwaters of the River of Doubt in the Brazilian rainforest. Very difficult journey and TR nearly died.
    • 5/5
      A gripping adventure tale that would make a great movie.
    • 4/5
      Certainly a story about Teddy Roosevelt I knew nothing about--his post-presidency expedition to explore an unmapped portion of the Amazon rain forest. The journey no doubt played a role in shortening his life. The author tells it straight, not enhancing the drama as much of the story is dramatic enough in itself.

      T.R. is a president about whom I carry mixed feelings, but he truly shines here.
    • 4/5
      Exciting and interesting. I read it because my dad did. I've not read enough other similar books to judge it objectively or say anything really, but I did really like it.
    • 4/5
      In the vein of The Lost City of Z, Candice Millard tells the story of the exploratory journey that Theodore Roosevelt took up an uncharted tributary of the Amazon River after his 1912 election defeat.Always looking for a physical challenge, Roosevelt found that and more as his company faced hostile native tribes as well as a hostile environment. They also faced their own hubris as their careful planning and stores of food and equipment were often found to be of little or no use to them on the trip. This book is like reading one of Edgar Rice Burrough’s novels. It will keep you madly turning the pages until the end.
    • 4/5
      The River of Doubt, or Rio da Dúvida, was the actual, dramatic name of a river in Brazil's Amazon region that is now called the Roosevelt River.  Fresh off his failed attempt to return to the Presidency as the Progressive "Bull Moose" Party candidate, Theodore Roosevelt conducted a scientific expedition for the American Museum of Natural History to explore this remote river in 1913-14.   Brazil's greatest explorer Cândido Rondon joined Roosevelt as  leader and were accompanied as Roosevelt's son Kermit, a naturalist, and 15 porters.  This book describes the adventure along the river that was plagued by waterfalls and rapids that required frequent portages, disease, loss of food and supplies, and the threat of the indigenous peoples, the Cinta Larga, tracking the expedition.  One member of the party drowned, one was murdered, and the murderer was abandoned by the party in the jungle.  Roosevelt himself suffered injuries and illness that brought him close to death and expressed the wish to be left behind.  It's a harrowing story that despite happening in modern times seems to be from a more distant era.
    • 4/5
      Having fallen from political grace in 1913, ex-President Theodore Roosevelt sets out to explore a hitherto unknown tributary of the Amazon River in Brazil. Poorly planned and woefully executed, the expedition nearly ends in early disaster but survives because of Roosevelt’s tough leadership and that of his Brazilian co-commander, Colonel Candido Rondon. Having previously brought telegraphy to Brazil’s interior, Rondon is godsend for his knowledge of the Amazon, its native inhabitants, and his strict military discipline. Roosevelt’s son, Kermit joins the expedition, ostensibly to keep an eye on his father, but he is nearly lost in the thousand-mile trek as is his deathly ill father.All in all, a good read, but “River of Doubt” does not engage in the manner of Millard’s “Hero of the Empire” or “Destiny of the Republic.” In her quest for extensive background detail, Ms. Millard brought to mind Jules Vern’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” in which Vern’s in-depth, deep-sea flora and fauna dissertations stalled the narrative. Ms. Millard’s narrative likewise suffers when dealing with the Amazon’s diverse life forms and the intricate, lethal battles played out beneath, around and above the expedition. Good to a point, but as she expounds, the story’s narrative bogs down. Still, wonderfully informative and, barring the tedium of her ecological digressions, a fairly quick read. Three and a half stars for a job well done.
    • 4/5
      In 1914, Theodore Roosevelt traveled to South America and undertook an extremely dangerous expedition down an uncharted river in the Amazon river basin. This book tells the story of that journey. It is well told, with fascinating tidbits about politics, history, science, and nature sprinkled throughout the narrative. Little known aspects of history are discussed - such as the election of 1912 and Roosevelt's relationships with South American politicians. But the heart of the story is a tale of adventure as a group of scientists, adventurers and soldiers travel down a river with rapids so wild that they are forced to do more portaging than paddling for most of the way. Dangers such as malaria, snakes, and piranha's abound - but there are also human threats from both within and without the party. I found this an enjoyable and fascinating read. There were several aspects of history that I was unaware of they made me think about the relationship between these historical events and the politics of today. Theodore Roosevelt is also a fascinating man to learn more with the way he lived out the principles he believed in. The relationships between him and his son Kermit comes to the forefront during the hardships of the journey and Theodore's illness that almost forced him to be left behind. The part that captured me the most was the basic story of survival and wondering how they would manage it (though I knew they would) when everything seemed so stacked against them.I definitely recommend this book, especially for history buffs. And I would certainly read more books by this author.
    • 4/5
      After his failed bid for re-election as a third party candidate in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt decided to go on a trip to South America. The cobbled together expedition changed from politics & pleasure (visiting his son Kermit, for example) to an expedition down what was then known as the Rio da Duvida - the River of Doubt. Previously only a portion of it was known, and this exploration would literally put it on the map - but at what cost to Roosevelt and his contingent?Teddy Roosevelt is an interesting character, and a president with whom I should be more familiar, but I'm afraid before I read this book the only things I could remember about him was the Rough Riders and "Speak softly and carry a big stick." The book sets the stage deliberately with information about the Roosevelts, American politics and more, but once it moves into the expedition it's a rip-roaring survival story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The information about Brazilian Indian tribes, rainforest ecology and more was fascinating.
    • 4/5
      Excellent narrator (audiobook).As far as content, you're either interested in this historical tidbit or you aren't... if you ARE, the author has written an engaging, easy flowing history of travels in a uniquely harrowing environment. I don't know who anyone traveled in those jungles before modern medicine was easily available so my interest was piqued before even starting the book. Roosevelt becomes more interesting as I learn more about him.
    • 4/5
      Historical account of Roosevelt's trip to Brazil to chart the River of Doubt. An engaging account that brings to life the historical period, lives, politics, science and adventure of Roosevelt and his companions.
    • 5/5
      The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived.
    • 5/5
      Fabulous book - well researched and beautifully written. It's not a biography of T. Roosevelt, but she writes enough about him so you understand the man and what drive him to make such a dangerous trip. And it's not a science/ecology book, but she writes enough about the Amazon so you understand what it's truly like to experience it. And she gives ample space to the others on the trip who are just as interesting in their own way as Teddy. Well balanced and riveting.
    • 5/5
      The author tells the story of T. Roosevelt's adventure down an uncharted river in the Brazilian Amazon, after his 3rd party bid for the presidency failed. Very well told, excellent detail, especially the descriptions of the jungle itself. Highly recommend.
    • 4/5
      We listened to this audio book during our camping trip in the swamps of Georgia - it was certainly a fitting tale for our adventure! The book focuses on Theodore Roosevelt's journey in the Amazon, where he successfully attempts to navigate through uncharted territory known only as the River of Doubt. What a story! Even though I knew he would survive, the facts are so amazing, you simply can't believe some of the things that occurred. Definitely a page turner. The only downside for me was a few sections where the author went into elaborate background detail for unrelated (or semi-related) concepts, which I selfishly admit I enjoyed when I cared about the topic, and was slightly bored when I didn't care as much.With regards to the audio - we both really enjoyed this particular narrator. He has a good speaking voice, and did a great job differentiating between the characters.