Publisher Description
A majestic tale of discovery thatchanged many long-held views about the world
In 1519 Magellan and his fleet of five ships set sail from Seville, Spain, to discover a water route to the fabled Spice Islands in Indonesia, where the most sought-after commodities — cloves, pepper, and nutmeg — flourished. Three years later, a handful of survivors returned with an abundance of spices from their intended destination, but with just one ship carrying eighteen emaciated men. During their remarkable voyage around the world the crew endured starvation, disease, mutiny, and torture. Many men died, including Magellan, who was violently killed in a fierce battle.
This is the first full account in nearly half a century of this voyage into history: a tour of the world emerging from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance; a startling anthropological account of tribes, languages, and customs unknown to Europeans; and a chronicle of a desperate grab for commercial and political power.
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“This was AMAZING — truth is so much stranger than fiction. The real story behind the Armada de Molucca and the expedition to reach East by sailing West rivals Homer’s Odyssey and would make for an outrageous film. Magellan didn’t even make it back to Spain; he was hacked to pieces by islanders en route and less than a tenth of his crew survived the voyage that no one in their right mind would have undertaken had they known of the existence of the Pacific ocean and the true size of the earth. I can’t wait for my sons to be old enough to read this (not for a long, LONG time due to violence and weird sexual stuff, though) — talk about courage in the face of adversity, big dreams and grand adventures, and ultimately injustice for those who sacrificed so much. Highly recommended.”
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Rebecca (5 out of 5 stars)
