▁rather ▁than ▁directly ▁by ▁Europe ans . ▁The ▁high ▁rate ▁of ▁fatal ity ▁of ▁these ▁ep ide m ics ▁dis rupted ▁the ▁people ▁and ▁their ▁society : ▁in ▁only ▁a ▁few ▁years , ▁they ▁were ▁so ▁dev ast ated ▁by ▁disease ▁that ▁they ▁had ▁virt ually ▁died ▁out . ▁The ▁earliest ▁conquist adors ▁left ▁records ▁of ▁their ▁g lim ps es ▁of ▁this ▁civil ization , ▁but ▁by ▁the ▁time ▁they ▁tried ▁to ▁explore ▁the ▁rain for est ▁again , ▁the ▁ind igen ous ▁people ▁were ▁all ▁but ▁gone . ▁The ▁j ung le ▁was ▁quickly ▁rec laim ing ▁the ▁land . ▁ ▁Re ception ▁The ▁Lost ▁City ▁of ▁Z ▁was ▁review ed ▁by ▁Rich ▁C ohen ▁in ▁the ▁Sunday ▁New ▁York ▁Times ▁Book ▁Review , ▁who ▁said ▁it ▁was ▁" a ▁powerful ▁narr ative , ▁st iff ▁li pped ▁and ▁Victor ian ▁at ▁the ▁center , ▁tri ppy ▁at ▁the ▁edges , ▁as ▁if ▁one ▁of ▁those ▁stern ▁men ▁of ▁Con rad ▁had ▁found ▁himself ▁tra pped ▁in ▁a ▁novel ▁by ▁García ▁M ár quez ." ▁ ▁Crit ic ▁Mich iko ▁K ak ut ani ▁ranked ▁it ▁as ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁ten ▁best ▁books ▁of ▁ 2 0 0 9 . ▁In ▁her ▁review , ▁K ak ut ani ▁wrote ▁that ▁it ▁" is ▁at ▁once ▁a ▁bi ography , ▁a ▁detect ive ▁story ▁and ▁a ▁wonder fully ▁v ivid ▁piece ▁of ▁travel ▁writing ▁that ▁comb ines ▁Bruce ▁Ch at w ines que ▁powers ▁of ▁observation ▁with ▁a ▁W augh - like