Tropic of Capricorn: A Remarkable Journey to the Forgotten Corners of the World

by Simon Reeve

Overview

Spanning 23,000 miles, the Tropic of Capricorn marks the southernmost border of the tropics and is a place of both amazing beauty and overwhelming human suffering. Starting in Africa and heading east through Australia and South America, Simon Reeve conducts a mammoth expedition along the entire length of the tropic in this thrilling account. Along the way he encounters breathtaking landscapes and truly extraordinary people, from Bushmen of the Kalahari and Namibian prostitutes battling with HIV to gem miners in Madagascar and teenagers in the Brazilian favela once described as the most dangerous place on earth. Collected here are the most daring adventures, the strangest rituals, and the most exotic wildlife in the world, all linked together by one invisible line.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781846073861
Publisher:	B B C Worldwide Americas
Publication date:	06/01/2009
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.70(h) x 3.50(d)

About the Author

Simon Reeve is the author of The New York Times bestseller The New Jackals and One Day in September, the screen adoption of which won an Oscar for best feature documentary.

Editorial Reviews

"An illuminating, readable travelogue and an ethical call to action." —Kirkus Reviews

"Brilliant . . . a fascinating, illuminating journey . . . much more than a travelogue." —The Daily Mail

"A romping good travelogue." —Wanderlust

"Like all the best travelers, Reeve carries out his investigations with infectious relish." —The Daily Telegraph

From the Publisher

British journalist and broadcaster Reeve (One Day in September: The Full Story of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and the Israeli Revenge Operation "Wrath of God", 2000, etc.) journeys along the southernmost border of the tropics as a follow-up to his expedition for the BBC series Equator. The Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer bookend a section of the globe that is 3,222 miles wide, "a home to extraordinary natural biodiversity, but an overwhelming concentration of human suffering." In this region, only Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan can claim to have economies described as "high-income." Aiming to explore the various socioeconomic conditions plaguing this region and to understand the ailments of these lands, Reeve begins his journey in Africa and moves east to Australia and South America, finishing in the favelas (slums) of Sao Paulo, considered one of the most dangerous places on the planet. Yes, there's breathtaking scenery en route, but this is travel writing of a sterner sort. The heart of Reeve's narrative beats in his encounters with the people of Capricorn, including the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert, Namibian prostitutes, gem miners in Madagascar, Australian Aboriginals and indigenous tribes in Chile, Paraguay and Argentina. He provides a balanced look at their plights and does an excellent job confronting the issues that have wreaked such havoc on this region, including environmental changes, globalization, AIDS and the lingering effects of colonialism. In South America, indigenous tribes who have lived in the mountains for centuries are now being chased off their land with bulldozers. These newly impoverished people will be forced into the slums of the nearest citieswhile the forests they lived in are destroyed to make way for soy farms producing biofuel. This grimly ironic facet to the world's sustainable-energy discussion is one of the many disheartening human and environmental issues Reeve brings to light. An illuminating, readable travelogue and an ethical call to action.

Kirkus Reviews