Over the Edge of the World - Sunday Book Report

I was drawn to read Laurence Bergreen's Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe after listening to the author speak in an online forum.

You can watch the lecture here. I fully recommend both the book and the lecture. If you don't have the time to read the book then the lecture will give you a good flavor of the incredible hardships and the immeasurable impact Magellan's fleet had on the history of the world.

The book is a fascinating account of the Portuguese Magellan who ended up leading a fleet of five ships for the King of Spain in an expedition around the world to the elusive Spice Islands. Magellan had to suppress violent mutinies and navigate vast unknown lengths of the world. It is a heroic tale of a three-year odyssey. For a understanding of how truly incredible Magellan's feat was consider that his circumnavigation of the world was not duplicated for another 58 years until the equally heroic Sir Francis Drake was able to equal the feat.

I am going to try and do one of these book reports each Sunday. Please note that they really aren't for you the reader but more for me the diarist. I see it as a way of noting what I thought or learned from a book at the time of reading.

Also please note that I have updated the books at the top of the blog. Originally I was posting books that I have read up there. I have changed that to books that I have on my Amazon Wish List. Please feel free to purchase one of those books for me if you feel I've provided you with some worthwhile entertainment here on this little corner of the Internet.