A Place in the Rain Forest: Settling the Costa Rican Frontier by Cole-Christensen, Darryl - 1997

Austin, Texas, U. S. A.: Univ Of Texas Press. New with no dust jacket. 1997. First Edition. Softcover. In the 1950s, Darryl Cole-Christensen and his family were among the first settlers of the Coto Brus, an almost impenetrable, mountainous rain forest region of south-eastern Costa Rica. In this evocative book, he captures the elemental struggles and rewards of settling a new frontier - an experience forever closed to most people in Western, urbanized society. With the perspective of more than 40 years' residence in the Coto Brus, the author ably describes both the settlers' dreams of bringing civilization and progress to the rain forest and the sweeping and irreversible changes they caused throughout the ecosystem as they cut the rain forest down. Writing neither to apologize for nor to defend their actions, he instead illuminates the personal and subjective factors that cause people to risk danger and hardship for the uncertain rewards of settling a frontier. 243 pages. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. .