The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire | 
 enlarge | Author: Joe Jackson
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 100778
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 5.9 x 1.5
ISBN: 0670018538
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.47678209811
EAN: 9780670018536
ASIN: 0670018538
Publication Date: February 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Book and dust cover, fine condition. Remainder mark on outer edge
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Product Description
The story of one mans journey down the Amazonand how it changed history
In 1876, a man named Henry Wickham smuggled seventy thousand rubber tree seeds out of the rainforests of Brazil and delivered them to Victorian Englands most prestigious scientists at Kew Gardens. Those seeds, planted around the world in Englands colonial outposts, gave rise to the great rubber boom of the early twentieth centuryan explosion of entrepreneurial and scientific industry that would change the world. The story of how Wickham got his hands on those seedsa sought-after prize for which many suffered and diedis the stuff of legend. In this utterly engaging account of obsession, greed, bravery, and betrayal, author and journalist Joe Jackson brings to life a classic Victorian fortune hunter and the empire that fueled, then abandoned, him.
In his single-minded pursuit of glory, Wickham faced deadly insects, poisonous snakes, horrific illnesses, and, ultimately, the neglect and contempt of the very government he wished to serve. His idealism and determination, as well as his outright thievery, perfectly encapsulate the essential nature of Great Britains colonial adventure in South America. The Thief at the End of the World is a thrilling true story of reckless courage and ambition.
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 Informative and well-written July 13, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
"The Thief at the End of the World" by J Jackson is another book in the popular genre of the history of everyday things - in this case, how natural rubber was taken from its home in Brazil.
Jackson writes somewhat in the style of a thriller writer, but it is appropriate given the tale of deception and theft that he relates. He is actually a fine writer - far superior to the soulless journalese of many books in this genre. His gift for writing and description makes the book quite exciting, but he does not fall into the trap of "embellishing" the tale for dramatic effect.
Henry Wickham, the central figure in the story, is one of those driven, obsessed men who were so common in the Victorian era of the British Empire, and even until World War 2. They were usually flawed and often tragic figures who played key roles in the saga of Empire building. What was it about Great Britain in the19th century that produced such an abundance of restless men?
In reading this book, one is struck by the trials Wickham endured, his disappointments, his brushes with death in remote jungles. Yet he always got up to try again, driven by some inner vision. After reading his story, one is filled with admiration for such people.
There is a very moving portrait in the book of Wickham, aged over 80, posing in slight profile for the camera. He looks strong and healthy, with the face of a much younger man. In the evening of his life, recognition and honours were showered on him and one might have expected a happy, even triumphant air in such a portrait. But the wary eyes and the sad smile half-hidden by his great moustache tell of his trials, and of unfulfilled dreams that died in the remoter regions of the British Empire.
Jackson gives an excellent account of the frantic Rubber Boom to hit the Amazon in the early years of the 20th century as demand for rubber for tyres, insulation and many other products soared and vast fortunes were made and squandered in luxuries such as the Opera house at Manaus. The bubble was quickly followed by a classic bust as plantation rubber from Wickham's smuggled seeds quickly killed the Amazonian wild supply.
Jackson's description of the boom and bust is one of the best accounts I have read and applies to all bubbles - right down to those of our day, such as the mad dotcom bubble.
There is a deeper message in the story of this book that Jackson only briefly alludes to. In the 19th century Empire-builders such as the English believed that everything in nature was put there by God for the use and pleasure of Man (but other countries were arguably much worse). This was the religious justification for ruthless exploitation of nature for profit and "sport".
Thankfully, most of the worst excesses of that era are past. But many traditional societies in poor countries are still being plundered for their knowledge of the medicinal and other uses of plants. Foreign companies often develop lucrative products based on this knowledge, but they rarely ever compensate the people from whom they stole the knowledge in the first place. Sadly, many traditional societies are easy prey, and the predators often lack sufficient moral restraint to prevent injustices being done.
Not surprisingly, the custodians of traditional knowledge are waking up to the exploiters and are starting to realise the value of what they have. They are becoming increasingly reluctant to share knowledge with inquisitive foreigners. No one wins in this situation: the world is denied potential new drugs and the knowledge itself risks being lost as traditional societies change and custodians of knowledge die out.
Jackson's descriptions of the Amazonian tropical jungles are particularly evocative and accurate. I have travelled through the jungles of the Amazon and Central America and I often felt the joy of recalling familiar things while reading this book. The river boats on which I have travelled are almost the same as the boats described in the book.
Although Brazil is central to the story, and numerous place names are mentioned, there is not a single map in the book. It's an astonishing omission, since most readers will be unfamiliar with the detailed geography of either country. Being able to see on a map the places that played key roles in the drama would have added greatly to the book.
There is an extensive section of notes and an exhaustive bibliography.
The bottom line: I really liked this book. It is enjoyable and informative read about a little-known episode of biopiracy, written by an author who knows his craft.
The romance and excitement of--RUBBER? May 17, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Tires, pencil erasers, shoe soles--rubber is so ubiquitous now that everyone takes it for granted. Joe Jackson, in his superb book, "The Thief at the End of the World," takes us back to the last half of the nineteenth century, when rubber--its unique and extraordinary properties just starting to be recognized--was so valuable that nations were prepared to kill or die for it. Jackson tells the story of rubber through the life story of one of the rubber industry's pivotal figures: Henry Wickham, Victorian dreamer, adventurer, and nature artist, whose 1876 theft of 70,000 Hevea Brasiliensis seeds from the Amazon jungle was the genesis of the vast British rubber plantations in Southeast Asia, creating the rubber industry as we know it today. Wickham's theft, unfortunately, also destroyed the wildly profitable Brazilian rubber business, relegating that nation to Third World status from which it is only now emerging. Every page of "The Thief at the End of the World" is saturated with danger and violence, from the prevalence of vampire bats to the hideous, often murderous treatment meted out to rubber tappers, or seringueiros, from the rubber tycoons and their vicious supervisors.
Through it all stands Wickham, a curiously emblematic figure of his age. A combination of idealistic optimist and bold opportunist, Wickham chased his dream of wilderness riches across the Amazon basin, then to Australia and New Guinea, sacrificing everything to that dream including his family and even his loving, loyal wife, Violet. He dreamed of preferment from the British Crown, never dreaming that the man who held the means of preferment--the crabbed, paranoic Joseph Hooker, head of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, near London--misprized Wickham as a whiner and amateur.
"The Thief at the End of the World" is a swift, graceful and thrilling read, as well as an entertaining short course in the history and chemistry of rubber. Its minor characters are worth their own books (such as Lucille Wetherall, mentioned in one paragraph, a Maine woman who, having lost her life savings in a failing Mexican rubber plantation, showed up at the plantation and managed it for years until the Mexican Revolution forced her to flee). Above all, Jackson makes us feel the intoxicating pull of the jungle, and reminds us that harder-headed men than Wickham were susceptible to it; he begins and ends the book with the vivid tale of Fordlandia, Henry Ford's failed attempt to establish a Brazilian rubber empire. Reading "The Thief at the End of the World," Werner Herzog's film "Fitzcarraldo" seems almost tame by comparison. Read it and get hooked.
Henry's Bounce March 12, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
The author tells a number of fascinating stories as he follows the life of Henry Wickham from childhood through a series of schemes and near-death adventures involving bot fly larvae, fever, nearly chopping off his foot, and endless fruitless attempts to be a planter. Henry's claim to fame was the highpoint of the book, a serendipitous incident with Kew, a ship, and the Hevea seeds. The style is mostly fine, though it's a bit over-written, as when the expressions in a photograph are scrutinized for what they might reveal about thoughts, hopes, feelings. This tendency to try to fill in the facts with humanizing details is a minor annoyance, as are the frequent digressions to establish the scene with global history. Those gripes aside, the author does a delightful job filling an important gap in the history of rubber and plant explorers.
Great story March 4, 2008
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
This story is one of those forgotten gems from history that a good writer brings to life and makes compellingly interesting. Henry Wickham is a character larger than anyone we know.
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