Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration 
asked by borat on November 13, 2006 2:20 AM
High adventure and grand history from a master of the craft in a beautifully illustrated volume.
With characteristic flair, Felipe Fernández-Armesto gives us an entertaining and insightful history of world exploration. Presenting the subject for the first time on a truly global scale, Fernández-Armesto tracks the pathfinders who, over the last five millennia, lay down the routes of contact that have drawn together the farthest reaches of the world. From the maritime expeditions connecting Queen Hatshepsut's Egypt to the exotic land of Punt in the second millennium BCE, through the merchants and missionaries of the ancient Silk Roads and the great Iberian explorers of the fifteenth century, to the nineteenth-century explorations of the polar regions, interior Africa, North America, and the South Pacific, Fernández-Armesto spins a grand narrative full of character and story. Deftly embedding these explorations in the cultures, politics, and technologies of their times, he creates a history with unusual depth and breadth. Here is an intellectual adventure as rewarding as it is thrilling. 16 pages of color; 48 maps; 44 illustrations.
With characteristic flair, Felipe Fernández-Armesto gives us an entertaining and insightful history of world exploration. Presenting the subject for the first time on a truly global scale, Fernández-Armesto tracks the pathfinders who, over the last five millennia, lay down the routes of contact that have drawn together the farthest reaches of the world. From the maritime expeditions connecting Queen Hatshepsut's Egypt to the exotic land of Punt in the second millennium BCE, through the merchants and missionaries of the ancient Silk Roads and the great Iberian explorers of the fifteenth century, to the nineteenth-century explorations of the polar regions, interior Africa, North America, and the South Pacific, Fernández-Armesto spins a grand narrative full of character and story. Deftly embedding these explorations in the cultures, politics, and technologies of their times, he creates a history with unusual depth and breadth. Here is an intellectual adventure as rewarding as it is thrilling. 16 pages of color; 48 maps; 44 illustrations.
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I have had the opportunity of reading Professor Fernandez-Armesto`s book that describes the history of global exploration. I must confess that it has enlightened my mind up to the point of finding answers to many of the questions I have quoted since my school years. His original and provoking theories justify why Europeans seek the discovery of new then unknown lands (when boats where able to sail upwind, when the Canary Islands entered the map and when the determination of rulers and financiers made it possible) whilst other peoples with similar or even great development of sailing technology and enjoying of similar trade winds did not succeed in conquering other territories as they lacked the sense of long term view. I have it on my bedside table to refresh my memory on who did what. It has already given me the opportunity of sharing what I have learnt through its lecture with my friends and I am sure each time I review it, will be able to gather new interesting information. I strongly recommend scholars and everyone interested in history to browse its pages and glean ideas from our history to learn about our future.
reviewed by tacos on November 16, 2006 9:16 PM