{"product_id":"jungle-of-stone-the-extraordinary-journey-of-john-l-stephens-and-frederick-catherwood-and-the-discovery-of-the-lost-civilization-of-the-maya-isbn-9780062407399","title":"Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe acclaimed chronicle of the discovery of the legendary lost civilization of the Maya. Includes the history of the major Maya sites, including Palenque, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Tuloom, Copan, and more.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/em\u003e BESTSELLER • Illustrated with a map and more than 100 images. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1839, rumors of extraordinary yet baffling stone ruins buried within the unmapped jungles of Central America reached two of the world’s most intrepid travelers. Seized by the reports, American diplomat John Lloyd Stephens and British artist Frederick Catherwood—both already celebrated for their adventures in Egypt, the Holy Land, Greece, and Rome—sailed together out of New York Harbor on an expedition into the forbidding rainforests of present-day Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. What they found would upend the West’s understanding of human history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the tradition of \u003cem\u003eLost City of Z\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eIn the Kingdom of Ice\u003c\/em\u003e, former \u003cem\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/em\u003e journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist William Carlsen reveals the remarkable story of the discovery of the ancient Maya. Enduring disease, war, and the torments of nature and terrain, Stephens and Catherwood meticulously uncovered and documented the remains of an astonishing civilization that had flourished in the Americas at the same time as classic Greece and Rome—and had been its rival in art, architecture, and power. Their masterful book about the experience, written by Stephens and illustrated by Catherwood, became a sensation, hailed by Edgar Allan Poe as “perhaps the most interesting book of travel ever published” and recognized today as the birth of American archaeology. Most important, Stephens and Catherwood were the first to grasp the significance of the Maya remains, understanding that their antiquity and sophistication overturned the West’s assumptions about the development of civilization.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the time of the flowering of classical Greece (400 b.c.), the Maya were already constructing pyramids and temples around central plazas. Within a few hundred years the structures took on a monumental scale that required millions of man-hours of labor, and technical and organizational expertise. Over the next millennium, dozens of city-states evolved, each governed by powerful lords, some with populations larger than any city in Europe at the time, and connected by road-like causeways of crushed stone. The Maya developed a cohesive, unified cosmology, an array of common gods, a creation story, and a shared artistic and architectural vision. They created stucco and stone monuments and bas reliefs, sculpting figures and hieroglyphs with refined artistic skill. At their peak, an estimated ten million people occupied the Maya’s heartland on the Yucatan Peninsula, a region where only half a million now live. And yet by the time the Spanish reached the “New World,” the Maya had all but disappeared; they would remain a mystery for the next three hundred years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToday, the tables are turned: the Maya are justly famous, if sometimes misunderstood, while Stephens and Catherwood have been nearly forgotten. Based on Carlsen’s rigorous research and his own 1,500-mile journey throughout the Yucatan and Central America, Jungle of Stone is equally a thrilling adventure narrative and a revelatory work of history that corrects our understanding of Stephens, Catherwood, and the Maya themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eIn 1839, rumors of extraordinary yet baffling stone ruins buried within the unmapped jungles of Central America reached two of the world’s most intrepid travelers. Seized by the reports, American diplomat John Lloyd Stephens and British artist Frederick Catherwood—both already celebrated for their adventures in Egypt, the Holy Land, Greece, and Rome—sailed together out of New York Harbor on an expedition into the forbidding rainforests of present-day Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. What they found would rewrite the West’s understanding of human history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the tradition of \u003cem\u003eLost City of Z\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eIn the Kingdom of Ice\u003c\/em\u003e, former \u003cem\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/em\u003e journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist William Carlsen reveals the extraordinary story of the discovery of the ancient Maya. Enduring disease, war, and the torments of nature and terrain, Stephens and Catherwood meticulously uncovered and documented the remains of an astonishing civilization that had flourished in the Americas at the same time as classic Greece and Rome—and had been its rival in art, architecture, and power. Their remarkable book about the experience, written by Stephens and illustrated by Catherwood, became a sensation, hailed by Edgar Allan Poe as “perhaps the most interesting book of travel ever published” and recognized today as the birth of American archaeology. Most important, Stephens and Catherwood were the first to grasp the significance of the Mayan remains, understanding that their antiquity and sophistication overturned the West’s assumptions about the development of civilization.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the time of the flowering of classical Greece (400 b.c.), the Maya were already constructing pyramids and temples around central plazas. Within a few hundred years the structures took on a monumental scale that required millions of man-hours of labor, and technical and organizational expertise. Over the next millennium, dozens of city-states evolved, each governed by powerful lords, some with populations larger than any city in Europe at the time, and connected by road-like causeways of crushed stone. The Maya developed a cohesive, unified cosmology, an array of common gods, a creation story, and a shared artistic and architectural vision. They created stucco and stone monuments and bas reliefs, sculpting figures and hieroglyphs with refined artistic skill. At their peak, an estimated ten million people occupied the Maya’s heartland on the Yucatan Peninsula, a region where only half a million now live. And yet by the time the Spanish reached the “New World,” the Maya had all but disappeared; they would remain a mystery for the next three hundred years. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToday, the tables are turned: the Maya are justly famous, if sometimes misunderstood, while Stephens and Catherwood have been all but forgotten. Based on Carlsen’s rigorous  research and his own 2,500-mile journey throughout the Yucatan and Central America, Jungle of Stone is equally a thrilling adventure narrative and a revelatory work of history that corrects our understanding of Stephens, Catherwood, and the Maya themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Thrilling. . . . A captivating history.”—\u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/em\u003e (Starred)\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Carlsen’s cogent and well-written dual biography successfully illuminates the fascinating tale of these intrepid pioneers of a lost civilization. ... [An] adventure tale that make[s] Indiana Jones seem tame.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Lively. ... Ably researching [Stephens and Catherwood] and affectingly describing their friendship, Carlsen makes an exemplary contribution to the lost-cities genre.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Lively. ... Carlsen fully captures [Stephens and Catherwood’s] awe before the ruins they described, illustrated, and published to such popular acclaim. Beyond their adventures, Carlsen credits the duo with an intellectual breakthrough about Mayan civilization: that it was an indigenous evolution, not derivative of another culture. Ably researching this pair and affectingly depicting their friendship, Carlsen makes an exemplary contribution to the lost-cities genre.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[A] gripping, informative history.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSan Jose Mercury News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Thrilling. ... A captivating history of two men who dramatically changed their contemporaries’ view of the past.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Thrilling. ... \u003cem\u003eJungle of Stone\u003c\/em\u003e is a tale of two men that makes Indiana Jones look like a stay-at-home slacker. … Full of astonishing adventures and breathtaking discoveries. … Carlsen brings both research skills and a gift for narrative to this book.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTampa Bay Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Carlsen is an engaging guide, at home in the jungle. ... There’s plenty to like in [his] account.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Carlsen’s masterful chronicle of [Stephens and Catherwood’s] explorations is a welcome excursion to a fascinating story set in the golden age of exploration.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Missourian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Carlson’s book brings these important explorers back to the limelight they so richly deserve.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Explorers Journal: The Official Quarterly of The Explorers Club\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“With verve and vigor... Carlsen finely explicates the challenges of the Catherwood-Stephens expedition and the wonders they found.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The book succeeds in all ways. … A highly readable, fascinating historical narrative.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eProvidence Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“If you’re hankering for a good adventure, there is no better book this spring than \u003ci\u003eJungle of Stone\u003c\/i\u003e by Pulitzer finalist William Carlsen. Carlsen narrates a story full of drama and wonder: the quest of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood to find evidence of the Mayan civilization in Central America. What they find in the jungle is nothing short of spectacular, and points to the incredible complexity and sophistication of this fascinating culture. This account reads like an adventure novel, but it has the added benefit of being completely true. Armchair explorers, history buffs, and anyone who loves a good journey: Don’t miss this book.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBookish\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“If you’re hankering for a good adventure, there is no better book this spring. … This account reads like an adventure novel, but it has the added benefit of being completely true. Armchair explorers, history buffs, and anyone who loves a good journey: Don’t miss this book.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBookish\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eJungle of Stone\u003c\/i\u003e is a tale of two men, fathers of archaeology in the Americas, that makes Indiana Jones look like a stay-at-home slacker. … Full of astonishing adventures and breathtaking discoveries. … [Carlsen] brings both research skills and a gift for narrative to this book. … Thrilling.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTampa Bay Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mariner Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889199083749,"sku":"NP9780062407399","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062407399.jpg?v=1730230734","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/jungle-of-stone-the-extraordinary-journey-of-john-l-stephens-and-frederick-catherwood-and-the-discovery-of-the-lost-civilization-of-the-maya-isbn-9780062407399","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}