The 1953 bestseller recounting the map making expeditions to the Amazon of W.W.I. hero Lieutenant Colonel Percival Harrison Fawcett (1867-1925 or after) , renowned geographer, archaeologist, and cartographer recruited by the Royal Geographical Society in 1906 to map the uncharted territory on the borders of Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. His disappearance in Brazil's Mato Grosso primeval wilderness in 1925 with his eldest son Jack in a quest to find a mythical ancient city he named “Z” prompted numerous unsuccessful search expeditions throughout the 20th c. and gave rise to various theories about his possibly intended disappearance to form a secret mystical society in part inspired by theosophy.
About 10 years ago, devastation of the Amazon and satellite imagery, brought to light the remains of a vast network of monumental earthworks, including geometrically aligned roads and structures, constructed by a hitherto unknown civilization.