The Lost City of Z (2009) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

• Percy H. Fawcett: Percy Fawcett was an explorer who disappeared in the Amazon looking for a lost civilization in 1925.
• Jack Fawcett: Percy's son, who went with him into the Amazon in 1925.
• Raleigh Rimmel: Jack's best friend.
• Dr. Alexander Hamilton Rice: Percy's rival.
• Richard Burton: Another explorer who wanted to know "why some apes evolved into English gentlemen and why some didn't."
• Nina Fawcett: Percy's wife.
• James Murray: Polar Explorer who accompanied Percy Fawcett on an expedition to map and study a section of unexplored jungle in Northwest Bolivia.
• Bryan Fawcett: Percy's son and Jack's younger brother
• David Graham: Author and journalist who goes to the Amazon to find out what happened to Fawcett and his party

Quotes edit see section history

• “"Those whom the Gods intend to destroy they first make mad!"”

  Percy Harrison Fawcett

• “My experience is that few of these savages are naturally "bad,: unless contact with the "savages" from the outside world has made them so.”

  Percy Fawcett

• “Our search for Fawcett and the City of Z suddenly felt trivial--another tribe appeared to be on the verge of extinction.”

• “Those whom the Gods intend to destroy they first make mad.”

  Brian Fawcett

• “Explorers are not, perhaps, the most promising people with whom to build a society. Indeed, some might say that explorers become explorers precisely because they have a streak of unsociability and a need to remove themselves at regular intervals as far as possible from their fellow men.”

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• “Explorers are not, perhaps, the most promising people with whom to build a society. Indeed, some might say that explorers become explorers precisely because they have a streak of unsociability and a need to remove themselves at regular intervals as far as possible from their fellow men.”

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• “Nee Áspera Terrent”—essentially, “Difficulties Be Damned.”

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• Heckenberger told me that he had just published his research, in a book called The Ecology of Power.

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• Even today, the Brazilian government estimates that there are more than sixty Indian tribes that have never been contacted by outsiders.

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• “Those whom the Gods intend to destroy they first make mad!”

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• In 2006, members of a nomadic tribe called Nukak-Makú emerged from the Amazon in Colombia and announced that they were ready to join the modern world, though they were unaware that Colombia was a country and asked if the planes overhead were on an invisible road.

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• But no man can help you die. There is room in the halls of pleasure For a long and lordly train, But one by one we must all file on Through the narrow aisles of pain.

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• (Evelyn Waugh’s A Handful of Dust is believed to have been influenced by Fawcett’s saga),

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• Hints to Travellers, which had been edited by Galton and served as the Society’s unofficial bible.

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• Notoriously, Galton, who like so many of his colleagues was a profound racist, tried to measure levels of intelligence in people and later became known as the father of eugenics.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• "Z": The ancient, lost civilization Fawcett is obsessed with finding.

Organizations edit see section history

• Royal Geographical Society: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences under the name Geographical Society of London. It later absorbed the older African Association, which had been founded by Sir Joseph Banks in 1788, as well as the Raleigh Club and the Palestine Association. The Society soon gained the title 'Royal' and was given a Royal charter by Queen Victoria in 1859.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. David Grann (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Amazon.com's Best Books (November 2009: Editors' Picks, #58)
• Samuel Johnson Prize (Finalist, 2009, Shortlist)
• ALA Notable Book (2010: Non-Fiction)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: F2546 .G747 2009
• Dewey: 918.11046

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › History › World › Expeditions & Discoveries
• Books › History › Americas › South America
• Books › Travel › South America

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Books Cited by This Book edit see section history