Ben Macintyre considers a very British hero. He also inspired his brother, Ian, to create the most famous fictional spy of all time. “They assumed they were incapable of creating something like the Lost City of Z, but in the end Fawcett proved all his doubters wrong.Peter Fleming undertook an epic but fruitless mission up the Amazon, and then wrote a bestselling book about it. The Victorian and Edwardian eras were infused with a great deal of racism and saw people in these regions as inferior. He was at the start of a more enlightened way of thinking. “Fawcett was very prophetic and, crucially, open minded. Grann says: “In the past decade there have been these revolutionary scientific and archaeological discoveries, including finding ruins, in the very place where Fawcett was looking for the Lost City of Z. The film infers they were sacrificed by a local tribe.Īsd the years passed by, Fawcett was at first ridiculed for his far out theories and later forgotten.īut historians have reassessed his ideas in recent years it is generally believed there was an ancient civilisation in the Amazon. Some say they were killed by rubber traders in the region, others have dubiously claimed they decided to stay in the Amazon, even that Fawcett become king of cannibals. Multiple theories have emerged over the years as to what happened to Jack and his father. “Then they suddenly stopped and it created a sensation, a real sense of mystery.” “While on the expedition Fawcett would write despatches as he went into the jungle and his journey was being followed by people around the world. “Fawcett was no longer a young man when he went back into the jungle,” says Mann, “and Jack was much more inexperienced than his father. They arrived in Brazil in April, 1926, and a month later they vanished in the central state of Mato Grosso.
“Nina, ended up approving of their son, Jack, going on their last expedition because not only did she see her husband as indestructible, but she thought that Jack, like his father, must be too,” says Mann.īut enthusiasm alone wouldn’t be enough to protect father and son. Jack also managed to convince his mother to give them her blessing. It was the enthusiasm of his son, Jack, that seems to have convinced 57 year-old Fawcett to make one last trip, this time with their friend, Raleigh Rimmell. But after the conflict he finally focused more on his long-neglected family. His bravery further enhanced his heroic image. Despite being nearly 50, he returned to the army and served in Flanders, where he was gassed on the battlefields of Belgium and hospitalised and not only promoted from major to Lieutenant-Colonel but was mentioned in despatches three times and winning the Distinguished Service Order. The expeditions came to a halt with the outbreak of World War One. ” When they found neither, his reputation went from fearless adventurer to a reckless crackpot.Īnd what movie-goers this week won’t know is that worse almost 200 of his would-be rescuers also disappeared in the Amazon jungle without ever being heard of again - falling victim to disease, dangerous wildlife, even lost tribes or simply lost themselves in days when the only guides were a map and compass.Ĭharlie Hunnam replaces Benedict Cumberbatch in mythical adventure The Lost City of Z Accompanied by his 21-year-old son, Jack, Fawcett mysteriously disappeared and was never seen again.ĭozens of expeditions and rescue parties went in search of Fawcett and his “lost city.
Now a new film, The Lost City of Z, starring Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson and Sienna Miller, shows how his obsession would see his 1925 expedition end in tragedy. Fawcett simply christened his El Dorado the city of “Z.” He was one of the first superstars of the 20th Century, an explorer once as famous as Scott of the Antarctic and many say the inspiration for movie hero, Indiana Jones.īritish adventurer Colonel Percy Fawcett became a global sensation when he trekked into the Amazon jungle, facing cannibals, flesh-shredding piranha and terrifying tropical diseases, to find a lost city of gold.Ī legend which had captured the world’s imagination for centuries.
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