An Historical Account of All the Voyages Round the World, Performed by English Navigators

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. This sweeping history opens with England's greatest sea-rovers and the world they revealed, drawing on the voyagers' own journals to turn exploration into vivid adventure. From Columbus's daring theory of a westward route to Asia and the skeptical laughter that greeted him, the narrative follows the widening age of discovery through Cabot, the Portuguese route around Africa, Brazil, the Amazon, and the Moluccas, where Spain and Portugal struggled to divide the globe and claim new empires. At its heart is a celebration of exploration as nobler than war: a source of knowledge, trade, and wonder, yet also a record of cruelty, disease, hardship, and death. Magellan's quest for a passage to the Moluccas brings this drama to life, as royal favor, mutiny, storm, and grim resolve propel the expedition across unknown waters. Later coastal voyages along New Spain continue the pattern of peril and ingenuity, with crews scavenging provisions, repairing ships, seizing guides and supplies, and probing harbors from Massatlan to Cape St. Lucar. Rich in geography, peoples, customs, and imperial conflict, the book offers discovery in all its glory and cost.