Pathfinders: A Global History of ExplorationW. W. Norton & Company, 2007 M10 17 - 464 pages "A brilliant and readable book…a rich study of humankind's restless spirit." —Candice Millard, New York Times Book Review Greeted with coast-to-coast acclaim on publication, Fernández-Armesto's ambitious history of world exploration sets a new standard. Presenting the subject for the first time on a truly global scale, Fernández-Armesto tracks the pathfinders who, over the past five millennia, lay down the routes of contact that have drawn together the farthest reaches of the world. The Wall Street Journal calls it "impressive...a huge story [told] with gusto and panache." To the Washington Post, "Pathfinders is propelled by an Argonaut of an author, indefatigable and daring. It's a wild ride." And in a front-page review, the Seattle Times hails its "tart and elegant presentation...full of surprises. Fernández-Armesto's lively mind, pithy phrasing, and stunningly thorough and diverse knowledge are a constant pleasure." A plenitude of illustrations and maps in color and black and white augment this rich history. In Pathfinders, winner of the 2007 World History Association Book Prize, we have a definitive treatment of a grand subject. |
From inside the book
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... wind and wind . . . Ella Wheeler Wilcox, 'The World's Need' ISTORY has two big stories to tell. The first is the very long story of how human cultures diverged—how they parted and developed difibrences, in ignorance or contempt of one ...
... wind beyond the Pillars of Hercules and by divine providence reached Tartessos. This market was at that time still unexploited. Therefore when they returned to their own country the men of Samos made more profit from their wares than ...
... winds. But the desert was so demanding that it deterred even bandits, and the mountains oflered some protection from the predatory nomads who lived beyond them. The Taklamakan took thirty days to cross—clinging to the edges, where water ...
... wind, navigators could set sail, confident ofa fair wind out and a fair wind home. It is a fact not often appreciated that, overwhelmingly, the history of maritime exploration has been made into the wind. When I edited The Times Atlas ...
... wind system in the Indian Ocean liberated navigators from such constraints. One must try to imagine what it would have been like, feeling the wind, year after year, alternately in one's face and at one's back. Gradually, would—be ...