A review by monicaa_d
Jungle of Stone: The True Story of Two Men, Their Extraordinary Journey, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya by William Carlsen

adventurous slow-paced

4.0

This book is about two white adventurers who explored and documented ruins throughout the Yucatan and Panama. Though there is plenty to be said about the circumstances that led to white men "discovering" Mayan civilization, this book does not handle those themes and instead focuses on facts, as well as the feelings of Stephens and Catherwood. We follow the two men as they fight tooth and nail to get through the wilderness so they can document the ruins in as much detail as possible. Their motivations were selfish, but they had a reverence and awe appropriate to appreciate the works of the Maya. The men are drawn back to the region repeatedly, and it brings them their greatest successes as well as great suffering. 

The writing itself is information-packed, but takes enough time to build imagery and allow the reader to experience the adventurous spirit and reverent awe that drove Stephens and Catherwood.