"The River of Doubt" by Candice Millard

I knew nearly nothing about Theodore Roosevelt except for some superficial details I picked up here and there. I wasn't even interested in the topic much, if not for the Lex Fridman's podcast from the Amazon rainforest. So, I went into the book without any expectations and was still baffled about what I'd just read.

Yes, the journey through this uncharted territory was difficult, and it did say a few things about the beloved US ex-president. However, besides the exciting bits about the Amazon rainforest, what I got was a complete disaster of a trip by somewhat poorly prepared folks. I mean, that's it.

There are no stories about heroes or overcoming necessary difficulties or adversaries. The book is about them going into the jungle, making many mistakes, and then being saved by common rubber tappers. I'm not sure why this trip is even notorious at all; I'd instead read about the African safari that Ted did before.