Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya

The true story of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, who hacked through Central America in 1839 and proved the ruined cities they found were built by Native Americans, not a lost Old World race. It reads like an adventure novel and is the most painless way into Maya geography and history.