THE LONGEST VOYAGE
Circumnavigators in the Age of Discovery
Genre:
History
Author:
Robert Silverberg
Publisher:
Ohio University Press/Swallow Press
Language:
English
AUTHOR BIO:
Robert Silverberg, a renowned science fiction author and recipient of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, named to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 1999, and in 2004 designated as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, also writes books reflecting his special interest in myth, history, archaeology, and anthropology. His books and stories have been translated into some forty languages.
Pages:
536
Publication:
Rights available:
Bulgarian, Danish, Finnish, French, Italian, Norwegian, Romanian, Swedish
DESCRIPTION:
From the intense and brooding Magellan and the glamorous and dashing Sir Francis Drake; to Thomas Cavendish, who set off to plunder Spain’s American gold and the Dutch circumnavigators, whose numbers included pirates as well as explorers and merchants, Robert Silverberg captures the adventures and seafaring exploits of a bygone era.
Over the course of a century, European circumnavigators in small ships charted the coast of the New World and explored the Pacific Ocean. Characterized by fierce nationalism, competitiveness, and bloodshed, The Longest Voyage: Circumnavigators in the Age of Discovery captures the drama, danger, and personalities in the colorful story of the first voyages around the world. These accounts begin with Magellan’s unprecedented 1519–22 circumnavigation, providing an immediate, exciting, and intimate glimpse into that historic venture. The story includes frequent threats of mutiny; the nearly unendurable extremes of heat, cold, hunger, thirst, and fatigue; the fear, tedium, and moments of despair; the discoveries of exotic new peoples and strange new lands; and, finally, Magellan’s own dramatic death during a fanatical attempt to convert native Philippine islanders to Christianity.
Capturing the total context of political climate and historical change that made the Age of Discovery one of excitement and drama, Silverberg brings a motley crew of early ocean explorers vividly to life.
REVIEWS:
“[Silverberg] vividly chronicles the heroics, the suffering, and the patriotism, cruelty, and greed that motivated most of the explorers cum privateers/pirates and their royal and private financial backers, in the blood competition for the riches of the Indies.” -Scan-A-Book
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