The late wildlife cameraman, Nick Gordon presents his incredible adventures in the heart of the rainforest in the awe-inspiring Wild Amazon. Although many would rather curl up on the sofa than travel along on his often dangerous quests, Gordon’s lively writing doesn’t always leave you much choice. You experience his exploitation as he intimately tells tales of tasting roasted tarantula and hearing the guttural grunts of Matis warriors. Gordon’s amazing array of photography begins with the jaguar, the animal that first ignited his passionate affair with the rainforest. Moving up through the ‘ocean of trees’ and down to the depths of the ‘flooded rainforest’, you cannot help but be inspired by the range of rare, and often unique, species he finds, and the emotions he captures. What’s even more inspiring are the lengths Gordon goes to capture these images. He builds giant tree towers, suffers from malaria, and even snorts ‘yoppo’, a powder made up from seeds, with Piaroa Indians to gain respect. Wild Amazon captures Gordon’s undying love for this wilderness. He is mesmerised by all that inhabit it, and passionately talks about his time with the natives (including the story of watching a shaman use a tarantula fang as a toothpick). Ending the book with a humbling account of the endangered fate of his beloved Amazonia, Wild Amazon serves as Gordon’s compelling posthumous eco-message to preserve this ‘powerhouse of biodiversity’.

Nick Gordon, one of Britain’s most successful natural history film-makers, died of a heart attack three years ago while in the Amazon, which was his life’s passion, writes Maggie Hartford. Wild Amazon is a stunning record of his work for Anglia TV, which he hoped would publicise the beauty and value of the rainforest, and boost efforts to save it. The twin marmosets pictured above will soon be too heavy for their father to carry. The Aterea Maues Indians believe the monkeys, which are small enough to fit in a human hand, are reincarnations of their dead children. Having observed their behaviour at close quarters, Gordon believed they were more like Spielberg’s creation Gremlins.

This is a rare chance to see one of the world’s wonders through the eyes of someone who cared so much about it that he lived it. Nick Gordon, one of Britain’s most successful natural history film makes, said, after his first visit to the Amazon in 1985, “That was it… I couldn’t leave it. I was a rainforest man”. In 2004, while filming a new series he died while in the region he loved, apparently of a heart attack. Fortunately, he had already worked on this book which brings together his best work about the animals and people he filmed. There are many books on the Amazon, but what gives this book the edge is the passionate first-hand account by an expert, plus its fabulous photography, which includes the elusive jaguar. This is intended as a celebration of a unique rainforest, says Gordon. It is!

The perfect gift for a photographer or wildlife enthusiast. Photographer Nick Gordon takes us on an amazing journey through the Amazon region, covering the animals and the people. He brings the world’s greatest rainforest to life. Some 50 percent of the world’s terrestrial species, including rare - and often unique – animals and plains are found here, while during the rainy season, a staggering one fifth of all fresh water on the planet flows along the mighty river Amazon. And Nick Gordon captures it vividly. The book is not just about photographs, but the wonderful pictures are naturally the major attraction, he tells us about the stories behind the shots and some of the folklore and customs behind the animals and places he photographs. He tells us what cooked tarantula tastes like; why the jaguar is known as the “eater of souls”, and what it’s like filming in the treetop canopy. Having lived in the area for more than 10 years, filming and photographing the wildlife and indigenous peoples of the area, he has amassed a unique and wide-ranging collection of images.

The late, great Nick Gordon’s final masterpiece tells the story of the Amazon – and of the photographer’s art. This marvellous book consists of stories within a story. The bigger picture is a lifelong dream in images and prose, and every paragraph and photograph is fuelled by a real passion for this difficult part of the planet. Indeed, Gordon’s stoicism in the face of discomfort and disease is perversely reassuring – this was a man whose brutal determination to succeed would not be derailed by trifles such as malaria or black flies. All the colour is in the tale and I enjoyed every essay. Gordon’s observations testify to curiosity that is the life blood of every true naturalist, and his tenacity meant that they invariably have conclusions. Marmosets kill giant centipedes; ants farm plants to harvest their fruits; giant tarantulas are trapped and cooked (they taste like crab). I couldn’t help but feel that each anecdote was part of a jigsaw that Gordon was creating, that his tireless quest to understand the complete complexity of this place he loved was obviously unfinished. Had he lived longer, I hope he would have joined them up in a single body of text, because, for all its brilliance, this is a notebook full of articles. Gordon was not one of the great wildlife photographers, and like all photographers who prefer other animals to their own species, his human portraits leave a little to be desired. True, there are some beautiful wildlife images here, but the vast majority are typically illustrative. That said, the sloth in the water, a couple of the jaguars and the tapir bathed in a pool of hot, sticky light are truly gorgeous. What is astonishing is that Gordon actually got anything on film at all. That he achieved such a broad representation of subjects, while at the same time collecting footage for his wildlife films, is almost unbelievable. These two disciplines are not happy bed fellows – you cannot easily do both at once. To dip in and out of his wonderful stories is delightfully rewarding and heartening. In an age where crass celebrity raises people far about their station, here was a man who reached for a dream, got it and richly deserved it. He was one in a million.