Bold Voyages And Great Explorers

This abridgement of the late Samuel Eliot Morison's magnum opus, The European Discovery of America, which the Journal of Southern History called "an epic work of true grandeur," and the Virginia Quarterly Review considered "a great book by a great historian," preserves the originality, scholarship, and vivid descriptions of the original volumes.

A lively collection of the adventurous stories of the greatest explorers in history. Ferdinand Magellan, Genghis Khan, Thor Heyerdahl, Amelia Earhart, and Neil Armstrong: these are some of the greatest travelers of all time. This book chronicles their stories and many more, describing epic voyages—from early trips through the great port city of Alexandria to the latest journeys into space. In antiquity, we follow Alexander the Great to the Indus and Hannibal across the Alps; in medieval times, we trek beside Genghis Khan and Ibn Battuta. The Renaissance eventually led to Columbus visiting the Americas and to the circumnavigation of the world. In the following centuries, global maps are filled in by Abel Tasman, Vitus Bering, and James Cook. Journeys specifically made for scientific discoveries, most famously by Alexander von Humboldt and Charles Darwin, begin. In modern times, the ends of the earth were reached—including both poles and the world’s highest mountain. Editor Robin Hanbury-Tenison leads an incredible team of fifty-two contributors, including Robert Ballard and Ranulph Fiennes, who relate firsthand experiences with the journeys and places they describe. The Great Journeys in History chronicles the stories of bold, early travelers who explored the unexplored and who set out into the unknown, bringing alive the romance and thrill of adventure.

Interesting topics Include: Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales; Chinese porcelain; The crusades; The hajj; Medieval monsters; The Norse sagas; The search for spices; Sir John Mandeville's Travels.

Discover the world through the eyes of the greatest explorers in history. Find out how the world was first circumnavigated by a slave and how travelers overcame the challenge of not having enough to eat and drink while traveling through unknown territory. Experience the excitement of seeing a new land for the first time, tasting new fruits and discovering new animals. This book focuses on 15 key voyages from around the world: the journeys undertaken by Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, Zheng He, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Martin Frobisher, Francis Drake, Maria Sibylla Merian, Captain Cook, Lewis & Clark, Charles Darwin, David Livingstone, Gertrude Bell, Ernest Shackleton, and astronauts who took part in the Moon landings.

Describes the journey taken by Magellan that proved the earth was round and that the oceans were connected.