The Circumnavigators

Derek Wilson

Published by M. Evans & Company. hardcover with dustjacket, illustrated

`Going round the world' is an idea that has excited people ever since it was realized that the earth was a sphere. The appeal has something to do with encompassing all the unknown environment and exploring the unknown, not only on the surface of the planet but within the spirit of the explorer.

The story of circumnavigation is thus a long saga of adventure, discovery and achievement. Some of the names that feature in that story are well-known, others less so. Some succeeded, some failed. But they are linked by the acceptance of the same twofold challenge — to girdle the earth and to penetrate the depths within.

It might have been thought that in an age when few parts of the globe remain unexplored interest in circumnavigation would have waned, but the reverse is the case; men and women still find challenges to face, records to at-tempt and scarcely a year passes without some brave or foolhardy circuit being embarked upon by sea, air or overland.

The Circumnavigators is a major chronicle of human adventure, travel and discovery. It is not a dull comprehensive catalogue of every-round-the-world voyage. Rather it is a book whose breath-taking sweep of narrative takes in a great deal of detail. It unfolds the story chronologically from the moment on 27 April 1521, when Ferdinand Magellan was speared to death on Mactan and Juan de Elcano took up the challenge of bringing h is surviving companions home. It continues that story ...............................