Best Selling Books by Wade Davis

The story of two generations of scientific explorers in South America—Richard Evans Schultes and his protégé Wade Davis—an epic tale of adventure and a compelling work of natural history. In 1941, Professor Richard Evan Schultes took a leave from Harvard and disappeared into the Amazon, where he spent the next twelve years mapping uncharted rivers and living among dozens of Indian tribes. In the 1970s, he sent two prize students, Tim Plowman and Wade Davis, to follow in his footsteps and unveil the botanical secrets of coca, the notorious source of cocaine, a sacred plant known to the Inca as the Divine Leaf of Immortality. A stunning account of adventure and discovery, betrayal and destruction, One River is a story of two generations of explorers drawn together by the transcendent knowledge of Indian peoples, the visionary realms of the shaman, and the extraordinary plants that sustain all life in a forest that once stood immense and inviolable.

A scientific investigation and personal adventure story about zombis and the voudoun culture of Haiti by a Harvard scientist. In April 1982, ethnobotanist Wade Davis arrived in Haiti to investigate two documented cases of zombis—people who had reappeared in Haitian society years after they had been officially declared dead and had been buried. Drawn into a netherworld of rituals and celebrations, Davis penetrated the vodoun mystique deeply enough to place zombification in its proper context within vodoun culture. In the course of his investigation, Davis came to realize that the story of vodoun is the history of Haiti—from the African origins of its people to the successful Haitian independence movement, down to the present day, where vodoun culture is, in effect, the government of Haiti’s countryside. The Serpent and the Rainbow combines anthropological investigation with a remarkable personal adventure to illuminate and finally explain a phenomenon that has long fascinated Americans.

Many of us are alarmed by the accelerating rates of extinction of plants and animals. But how many of us know that human cultures are going extinct at an even more shocking rate? While biologists estimate that 18 percent of mammals and 11 percent of birds are threatened, and botanists anticipate the loss of 8 percent of flora, anthropologists predict that fully 50 percent of the 7,000 languages spoken around the world today will disappear within our lifetimes. And languages are merely the canaries in the coal mine: what of the knowledge, stories, songs, and ways of seeing encoded in these voices? In The Wayfinders, Wade Davis offers a gripping and enlightening account of this urgent crisis. He leads us on a fascinating tour through a handful of indigenous cultures, describing the worldviews they represent and reminding us of the encroaching danger to humankind''s survival should they vanish.

A fascinating photographic journey to indigenous cultures around the world by renowned anthropologist Wade Davis. Anthropologist and best-selling author Wade Davis has traveled the world, befriending indigenous peoples on every continent and engaging in their spiritual lives and practices. To him, no culture is primitive--every daily habit, every ritual, every ceremony expresses the human genius. In this book he takes us into the heart of 20 different world cultures, from the ancient salt mines of the Sahara to the icy world of the Inuit, from the pastoral nomads of Mongolia to the dreaming Aboriginals of Australia. Through sensitive text and revealing photos, enter what Davis calls our "ethnosphere": the extraordinary matrix of cultures thriving on this planet.

For more than 30 years, renowned anthropologist Wade Davis has traveled the globe, studying the mysteries of sacred plants and celebrating the world’s traditional cultures. His passion as an ethnobotanist has brought him to the very center of indigenous life in places as remote and diverse as the Canadian Arctic, the deserts of North Africa, the rain forests of Borneo, the mountains of Tibet, and the surreal cultural landscape of Haiti. In Light at the Edge of the World, Davis explores the idea that these distinct cultures represent unique visions of life itself and have much to teach the rest of the world about different ways of living and thinking. As he investigates the dark undercurrents tearing people from their past and propelling them into an uncertain future, Davis reiterates that the threats faced by indigenous cultures endanger and diminish all cultures.

A captivating new book from Wade Davis--award-winning, best-selling author and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence for more than a decade--that brings vividly to life the story of the great Río Magdalena, illuminating Colombia''s complex past, present, and future Travelers often become enchanted with the first country that captures their hearts and gives them license to be free. For Wade Davis, it was Colombia. Now in a masterly new book, Davis tells of his travels on the mighty Magdalena, the river that made possible the nation. Along the way, he finds a people who have overcome years of conflict precisely because of their character, informed by an enduring spirit of place, and a deep love of a land that is home to the greatest ecological and geographical diversity on the planet. As Gabriel García Márquez once wrote during his own pilgrimage on the river: "The only reason I would like to be young again would be the chance to travel again on a freighter going up the Magdalena." Only in Colombia can a traveler wash ashore in a coastal desert, follow waterways through wetlands as wide as the sky, ascend narrow tracks through dense tropical forests, and reach verdant Andean valleys rising to soaring ice-clad summits. This rugged and impossible geography finds its perfect coefficient in the topography of the Colombian spirit: restive, potent, at times placid and calm, in moments explosive and wild. Both a corridor of commerce and a fountain of culture, the wellspring of Colombian music, literature, poetry, and prayer, the Magdalena has served in dark times as the graveyard of the nation. And yet, always, it returns as a river of life. At once an absorbing adventure and an inspiring tale of hope and redemption, Magdalena gives us a rare, kaleidoscopic picture of a nation on the verge of a new period of peace. Braiding together memoir, history, and journalism, Wade Davis tells the story of the country''s most magnificent river, and in doing so, tells the epic story of Colombia.

The definitive story of the British adventurers who survived the trenches of World War I and went on to risk their lives climbing Mount Everest. On June 6, 1924, two men set out from a camp perched at 23,000 feet on an ice ledge just below the lip of Everest’s North Col. George Mallory, thirty-seven, was Britain’s finest climber. Sandy Irvine was a twenty-two-year-old Oxford scholar with little previous mountaineering experience. Neither of them returned. Drawing on more than a decade of prodigious research, bestselling author and explorer Wade Davis vividly re-creates the heroic efforts of Mallory and his fellow climbers, setting their significant achievements in sweeping historical context: from Britain’s nineteen-century imperial ambitions to the war that shaped Mallory’s generation. Theirs was a country broken, and the Everest expeditions emerged as a powerful symbol of national redemption and hope. In Davis’s rich exploration, he creates a timeless portrait of these remarkable men and their extraordinary times.

“Wade Davis is a true wayfinder, and these essays offer new insight into his visionary approach to culture, landscape, and the planet he loves as fiercely as any writer working today.”—John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather A timely and eclectic collection from one of the foremost thinkers of our time, “a powerful, penetrating and immensely knowledgeable writer” (The Guardian). The essays in this collection came about during the unhurried months when one who had traveled incessantly was obliged to stay still, even as events flared on all sides in a world that never stops moving. Wade Davis brings his unique cultural perspective to such varied topics as the demonization of coca, the sacred plant of the Inca; the Great War and the birth of modernity; the British conquest of Everest; the endless conflict in the Middle East; reaching beyond climate fear and trepidation; on the meaning of the sacred. His essay, “The Unraveling of America,” first published in Rolling Stone, attracted five million readers and generated 362 million social media impressions. Media interest in the story was sustained over many weeks, with interview requests coming in from 23 countries. The anthropological lens, as Davis demonstrates, reveals what lies beneath the surface of things, allowing us to see, and to seek, the wisdom of the middle way, a perspective of promise and hope that all of the essays in this collection aspire to convey. “Wade Davis has a gift for saying the unsayable. He’s a fearless explorer in the intellectual world, as in the physical. His refusal to embrace conventional wisdom on climate change, for example, and instead think through the issue for himself, is a model of independent thinking. Even when I disagree with Wade, as with some of his bleak comments about the United States, I’m grateful for his voice. We usually live on the surface of ideas when we talk about issues such as war and racism; Wade takes us far deeper.”—David Ignatius, columnist and associate editor, Washington Post

At a time when the Colorado River and all those who depend on it are in peril, this urgent book offers "both a love song and a paean of regret to America''s most spectacular river" (Denver Post) and "a plea to save [it] before it’s too late" (The Wall Street Journal). From bestselling author, long-time former National Geographic Explorer, and anthropologist Wade Davis comes the story of America’s Nile: how it once flowed freely and how human intervention has left it near exhaustion, altering the water temperature, volume, local species, and shoreline of the river Theodore Roosevelt once urged us to "leave it as it is." Plugged by no fewer than twenty-five dams, the Colorado is the world’s most regulated river drainage, providing most of the water supply of Las Vegas, Tucson, and San Diego, and much of the power and water of Los Angeles and Phoenix, cities that are home to more than 25 million people. If it ceased flowing, the water held in its reservoirs might hold out for three to four years, but after that it would be necessary to abandon most of southern California and Arizona, and much of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. For the entire American Southwest, the Colorado is indeed the river of life, which makes it all the more tragic and ironic that by the time it approaches its final destination, it has been reduced to a shadow upon the sand, its delta dry and deserted, its flow a toxic trickle seeping into the sea. Yet despite more than a century of human interference, Davis writes, the splendor of the Colorado lives on in the river’s remaining wild rapids, quiet pools, and sweeping canyons. The story of the Colorado River is the human quest for progress and its inevitable effects—and an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and foster the rebirth of America’s most iconic waterway. A beautifully told story of historical adventure and natural beauty, River Notes is a fascinating journey down the river and through mankind’s complicated and destructive relationship with one of its greatest natural resources. Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.

A collection of essays by scientist Wade Davis that analyze the interactions between human societies and the natural world.

In 1982, Harvard-trained ethnobotanist Wade Davis traveled into the Haitian countryside to research reports of zombies--the infamous living dead of Haitian folklore. A report by a team of physicians of a verifiable case of zombification led him to try to obtain the poison associated with the process and examine it for potential medical use. Interdisciplinary in nature, this study reveals a network of power relations reaching all levels of Haitian political life. It sheds light on recent Haitian political history, including the meteoric rise under Duvalier of the Tonton Macoute. By explaining zombification as a rational process within the context of traditional Vodoun society, Davis demystifies one of the most exploited of folk beliefs, one that has been used to denigrate an entire people and their religion.

Explore the uncharted Amazon with acclaimed botanist and pioneering Amazonian explorer, Richard Evans Schultes, guided by an intimate narrative that supplements his photography of indigenous tribes, hallucinogenic plants, stunning vistas, and much more.

With their towering spruces and cedars, verdant groundcover and cloaks of mist, the temperate rainforests of North America have long been a source of wonder and awe. Extending from northern California to southern Alaska, these immense and mysterious forests are home to a constellation of life that is unique on this planet. In this magnificent photographic collection, Graham Osborne''s breathtaking images depict the many guises of the rainforest gnarled tree trunks dripping with moss, the spires of Douglas firs reaching into the sky, waterfalls tumbling over time-worn rocks, ice-encased fern fronds in winter, scarlet maple leaves littering the ground in autumn, a burst of wildflowers along a river bank in spring. Other photographs depict a tidepool rich with sea life, the Coast Mountains at sunset and sea stacks off the coast capped with old-growth trees. In his eloquent text, Wade Davis describes the scale and abundance of these rainforests, where redwoods reach nearly 120 metres and red cedars can be 6 metres or more across at the base. These and other giant conifers form the basis of one of the richest ecosystems in the world, where salmon and eagles proliferate, tiny seabirds lay their eggs in underground nests among the roots of ancient cedars, lungless salamanders in forest streams absorb oxygen through their skin, and creatures live on dew in the canopy of the forest and never touch the ground. Davis also discusses the role of the rainforest in Native culture and mourns the loss of much of this ancient forest through overcutting and other shortsighted forestry practices.

In The Sacred Headwaters, a collection of photographs by Carr Clifton and members of the International League of Conservation Photographers - including Claudio Contreras, Paul Colangelo, and Wade Davis - portray the splendour of the region. These photographs are supplemented by images from other professionals who have worked here, including Sarah Leen of the National Geographic.

The Penan, one of the few remaining nomadic peoples of the rain forest, live in a place of indescribable beauty -- and all around them the forest is coming down at an alarming pace. In their East Malaysian state of Sarawak, the rate of timber cut is among the highest the world has ever known. This timely book addresses in words (both narrative and quotations) and unforgettable pictures the plight of the Penan. The majority of the photographs and quotations were collected during many field trips the authors made into the interior of Sarawak. Dramatic. -- The Los Angeles Times

En 1941 el profesor Richard Evans Schultes se intern en la selva amaz nica, donde pas los siguientes doce a os de su vida explorando r os que no figuraban en los mapas, recolectando plantas desconocidas Para la ciencia y estudiando la sabidur a y las costumbres de docenas de tribus ind genas de Ecuador, Per , Brasil, Bolivia, Venezuela y, particularmente, Colombia. Treinta a os despu s dos de sus alumnos (Tim Plowman y Wade Davis) regresaron a estudiar los secretos bot nicos de la coca, planta sagrada entre los incas. En homenaje a la memoria de uno de ellos se escribi este libro.

El río Magdalena es la principal razón por la que Colombia existe como nación. Es el surco de vida que permitió a los colombianos establecerse en un territorio que es de las geografías más complejas de todo el planeta. En la cuenca del Magdalena viven cuatro de cada cinco habitantes del país y es la fuente del ochenta por ciento de la riqueza económica de la nación. El Magdalena es al mismo tiempo corredor de comercio y fuente de cultura; es el manantial del que nacen la música, la literatura, la poesía y las plegarias de Colombia. En los tiempos más oscuros fue convertido en cementerio, una corriente amorfa de muertos. Sin embargo, siempre regresa como un río de vida. Durante los peores años de violencia, el Magdalena nunca abandonó a su gente. Siempre fluyó. Quizás ahora, como sugiere este libro —resultado de cinco años de viajes desde el nacimiento del río en el Macizo Colombiano hasta su desembocadura en Bocas de Ceniza— sea el momento de retribuir sus esfuerzos y dejar que se depure de todo lo que ha mancillado sus aguas. Magdalena. Historias de Colombia descubre los paisajes y riqueza natural del río, su cuenca y sus gentes. Este libro es una larga declaración de amor a Colombia, una tierra "de colores y cariño" como la ha descrito su autor, un mensaje de que necesitamos volver a mirar al Río Grande de la Magdalena como eje de la reconciliación que requiere el país.

Wade Davis reflexiona sobre nuestro tiempo, sobre los problemas del mundo hoy, pero también desde su pasión por la exploración y la historia de la búsqueda constante de la humanidad por comprender su contexto. Este libro recoge una serie de ensayos que engloban varias de las principales preocupaciones del autor Wade Davis: desde una reflexión sobre lo que dejó la pandemia del coronavirus hasta una historia de la coca y el dilema permanente de cómo afrontarla. Desde la India hasta el Everest; el autor repasa cómo y por qué la fascinación por explorar. Un libro ágil, ameno y lleno de sabiduría.

"El COVID-19 ha atacado nuestros cuerpos, pero también los fundamentos culturales de nuestra existencia, las herramientas de comunidad y conectividad que son para los humanos lo que las garras y los dientes son para el tigre. En tanto especie social, nuestra supervivencia biológica depende de las estructuras que erigimos, la matriz de reciprocidad económica, la compleja red de relaciones sociales, la intimidad y lealtad supuestas en los vínculos de sangre y afecto. El colapso de nuestro sistema económico, la situación desesperada de pacientes que agonizan lejos del consuelo y el cariño de sus seres queridos, obligados a sufrir y morir en soledad, no son efectos secundarios de la infección o meras consecuencias del contagio. Son más bien el resultado esperado de un virus oportunista que prospera mediante el contacto facilitado por el caos y el derrumbe de las instituciones".

"Avant de mourir, l’anthropologue Margaret Mead a exprimé la crainte qu’en glissant vers un monde plus homogène, nous ne soyons en train de jeter les bases d’une culture moderne générique et informe, qui n’aurait pas de concurrente. Elle redoutait que toute l’imagination humaine ne soit contenue à l’intérieur des limites d’une unique modalité intellectuelle et spirituelle. Son pire cauchemar, c’était que nous nous réveillions un jour sans même nous souvenir de ce que nous avons perdu." Ainsi s’exprime l’anthropologue canadien Wade Davis qui, après avoir sillonné la planète pendant plus de quarante ans, confirme dans ce livre la réalité des menaces qui pèsent aujourd’hui non seulement sur la biodiversité mais aussi sur la diversité humaine et culturelle. Dans un avenir proche, de nombreuses cultures, parmi les plus fragiles, sont vouées à disparaître. Et avec elles, des connaissances, des modes de pensée, des arts et des spiritualités : toute une mémoire ancienne qui représenterait une perte considérable pour la planète. De la Polynésie aux Andes, du Mali au Groënland, du Tibet à l’Australie, Wade Davis nous entraîne dans un voyage qui est tout autant un plaidoyer en faveur des cultures anciennes qu’une invitation à repenser notre monde avant qu’il ne soit trop tard.

Set against the majestic backdrop of one of the world''s natural wonders, this book is a stunning photographic journey along the Colorado River, with commentary from river expert and acclaimed author Wade Davis.

Essays and stories, distilled from travels in widely separated parts of the world, about landscape and character, and the wisdom of lives drawn directly from the land.