The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire

By Joe Jackson

Book Overview

The amazing tale of one of history's most daring acts of biopiracy-and how it changed history In this thrilling real-life account of bravery, greed, obsession, and ultimate betrayal, award- winning writer Joe Jackson brings to life the story of fortune hunter Henry Wickham and his collaboration with the empire that fueled, then abandoned him. In 1876, Wickham smuggled 70,000 rubber tree seeds out of the rainforests of Brazil and delivered them to Victorian England's most prestigious scientists at Kew Gardens. The story of how Wickham got his hands on those seeds-and the history-making consequences-is the stuff of legend. The Thief at the End of the World is an exciting true story of reckless courage and ambition that perfectly captures the essential nature of Great Britain's colonial adventure in South America.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143114611
• ISBN13: 9780143114611
• Release Date: February 2009
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Henry's Bounce

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.