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Book Review of The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story

The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story
TinkerPirate avatar reviewed on + 61 more book reviews


Douglas Preston is a favorite of mine. I went into the book expecting a good read about an expedition into the unknown and some history into indigenous culture. What I got was much, much more!

Preston does an incredible job of presenting dry subjects such as Central American politics, archeologic processes, epidemiology, etc. in a way that makes the book a real page-turner.

I will admit the first 60 pages or so were slow, but after than I was completely engaged.

Key things I walked away with:
1. Great civilizations fail for the same reasons.
2. Humans have an amazing capacity to protect natural and historical wonders, but, unfortunately, more of us just want to exploit whose wonders.
3. In a battle between nature and humans, nature wins.
4. One of the greatest dangers to us has been around since dinosaurs walked the earth and little is being done to control it.
5. Never under estimate the power of a dream.