A year after Theodore Roosevelt suffered a humiliating defeat in his 1912 run for the White House, the audacious adventurer determined to renew his broken spirit with an investigative trip to South America. What began as a relatively mundane float down previously mapped terrain became a much more dangerous journey into the unknown — an expedition down a locally feared tributary of the Amazon known as the “River of Doubt.” The expedition’s labors would forge a new map of the world as well as a previously unplumbed strength of character, necessary for survival. The River of Doubt is Candice Millard’s account of Roosevelt’s unprecedented feat propels readers straight into the heart of the Amazon. From vines, poisonous snakes, and piranhas to cannibals and duplicitous guides, Roosevelt bushwhacked a path more perilous than that of 20th-century politics. Roosevelt and his fellow explorers faced constant illness and disease, fear of attack from hostile tribes, drowning, starvation, and even mutiny within their own ranks. A raging, flesh-eating infection that reached its peak at the most treacherous point in the journey brought Roosevelt himself to the brink of death. An incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth. Millard, a former writer and editor for National Geographic, conveys Teddy Roosevelt’s energy and warm interactions, as well as the ex-president’s fervent desire for adventure and self-acceptance.