The River of Doubt by Candice Millard

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Step into one of history’s most gripping survival stories—a harrowing expedition that nearly claimed the life of America’s most adventurous president.

In 1914, a defeated and restless Theodore Roosevelt plunged into the Amazon’s darkest heart, determined to chart the River of Doubt—an unforgiving, unmapped tributary where death lurked in every shadow. Candice Millard’s riveting narrative follows Roosevelt, his son Kermit, and legendary Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon as they navigate treacherous rapids, face poison-tipped arrows, battle starvation and disease, and confront the jungle’s most primal terrors.

This is adventure writing at its finest: meticulously researched, viscerally told, and impossible to put down. Millard transforms historical record into edge-of-your-seat suspense as Roosevelt’s expedition unravels—three men dead, supplies lost to raging whitewater, and the former president himself brought to the brink of suicide. What emerges is both an unforgettable survival epic and an intimate portrait of a man testing his limits against nature’s most unforgiving wilderness.

The River of Doubt isn’t just history—it’s a thriller that happens to be true. Perfect for readers who loved The Lost City of Z or Endurance, this is a book that belongs on every adventurer’s shelf, every history lover’s nightstand, and every reader’s “must-experience” list.

From the author of River of the Gods and Destiny of the Republic, this dazzling debut will change how you see both the Amazon and one of America’s most legendary figures.

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