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Renowned anthropologist Wade Davis shows us how preserving the diversity of the world's cultures and spiritual beliefs is just as important as preserving our endangered plants, insects, and animals. In this collection of personal essays, Davis tells of dramatic personal...(more) adventures during which he visits and often lives with indigenous communities in the remote regions of the world. He offers reports of toad-smoking shamanistic journeys in the Amazon forests, tracking an elusive cloud leopard in the mountains of Tibet, and a soulful lament for the lost American buffalo. Although he has been called a modern-day Indiana Jones, Davis has far more integrity. His stories are not in service to self-glorification, but rather to one resounding theme: If there is one lesson I have drawn from my travels, it is that cultural and biological diversity are far more than the foundation of stability; they are an article of faith, a fundamental truth that indicates the way things are supposed to be.... There is a fire burning over the Earth, taking with it plants and animals, cultures, languages, ancient skills, and visionary wisdom. Quelling this flame and reinventing the poetry of diversity is the most important challenge of our times. --Gail Hudson(less)