John Hemming has written extensively about South American history and environment, including the Conquest of the Incas and a three-volume history of Brazilian indigenous peoples. This research is based on a series of expeditions in the Amazon and Peru, including visiting forty-five tribes, four of them at first contact, and leading one of the largest-ever rainforest research projects. He was Director of the Royal Geographical Society for 21 years, during which he transformed that institution.
