Over the Edge of the World Updated Edition: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe

This is one of two books about Magellan and his epic voyage. The other is Manchester's "A World Lit Only by Fire." Foir anyone with enough interest in the subject to read either book, I would recommend both. This book deals almost exclusively with the voyage, which after considerable haggling to get financing, began with five very small (by today's standards) leaky, under-equipped, clumsy, floating torture chambers, into which 250 men and some provisions were packed; and ended with two of the ships seprately limping back to Spain with only 18 of the crew still alive,Magellan having been killed in the Philippines, probably because he at some point during the voyage fell captive to the illusion of immortaltiy, and involved his beleaguered crew in an impossible battle with a native army.As one of the earlier reviewers observed, this book would have been improved by providing more information about the times.There is, after all, only so much that can be said about trying to cross the Pacific Ocean without any maps and limited supplies of food, water, and, most important of all, no understanding of the need for Vitamin C.At the same time, the Manchester book spends an enormous number of pages describing in great detail hat horrible conditions of Europe and the Papacy during this time. Despite several history courses that should have left me at least vaguely aware of how bad things were then, I was astonished at the picture he painted. At such length that by the time he got to Magellan's voyage, it seemed almost an afterthought.Of the books, overall I enjoyed "Edge of the World" more, but I learned more of value from Manchester's book.

After reading All the journals of Captain Cooks Voyages, the Journal of Joseph Banks on Cooks first voyage, all of the Antarctic explorers, was looking forward to Magellan’s Voyage.However, in my opinion it is very poorly written and put together. Numerous “sidebars” where author just goes off on an entirely different tangent, happens so frequently was a pain to read, when you just wanted the voyage, diaries of crew, etc.Very slow going read. Compared to the Author : Joan Druett, Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World, a true story, this book about Magellan’s voyage is really TERRIBLE.This author doesn’t have a clue about how to tell a story or even how to organize it. With all the research he says he did, the book does not reflect it!I will not be buying any more books by this author, Laurence Bergreen again. I’d get a refund if I could! Waste of money.

This is definitely not the story you were taught in school. Over the Edge of the World by Laurence Bergreen is a powerful page turner of the true story of what Magellan and his crew went through just to find nutmeg and cinnamon.Many of the men brought back to life in Bergreens book are worthy of books just on their own stories.The desperation and solitude, cut off for months at a time without seeing another single human being is enough to make the most dedicated introverts among us cringe. The men on Magellan's armada had no idea what they would come across. Boiling water at the equator? Magnetic islands that could pull nails from the ships if they got too close?If you have a curiosity of how soft the comforts of our modern society has made us, look no further than this book. What these men endured and sacrificed for, the things that you can easily find on the grocery store shelves is mind boggling.

Excellent! Well written, interesting and comprehensive. The author states that Magellan was and still is controversial, however, he does not seem controversial to me aside from his possibly ill-considered decision to engage in a fight with the natives in the Philippines which went awry and in which he was killed. This book is a fitting testimony to this man and the explorers of that time who ventured into the unknown in their tiny and frail wooden ships to extend knowledge of the world. Were they flawed? Of course. Aren't we all. What is important is that enterprising spirit which was and still is very important to the human quest for knowledge. Bergreen's book is a fitting reminder of this.

Read this at a good time during NO supermarket slots/NO promised volunteers--learned that Scurvy can occur within weeks of no Vit C. so able to order tablets off Amazon. Book was well-written, engaging, and didn't shirk difficult issues. Recommended.

This is one of the best books I have read in recent years. Covering the lead up to Magellan's attempt to find a sea route to the spice islands, the incredible journey itself, which took three years to circumnavigate the globe, and the events which followed the survivors' return, this is page turning history of the highest quality.Painstakingly researched from original resources, and related in an erudite yet thoroughly entertaining manner, this is a a wonderful book, which I may well read again

How 260 men set out from Seville in September 1519 to find a new route to the Spice Islands, and how a mere 18 returned having completed the first circumnavigation of the globe after nearly 60,000 miles and three years is an epic story that has found a worthy author. Laurence Berggreen rewards the reader by marrying scholarly research with eloquent, readable prose.There is no attempt to portray the achievement as heroic, astounding though it was. This is an account of hardship, disease, torture, murder, betrayal, but it is also a vivid tale of discovery and observation of previously unknown places, people and things. Framing it all, and giving the narrative a shape that might translate to a novel, is the rivalry between Spain and Portugal for commercial domination of the oceans.Even as the end is almost within reach, there is no certainty of success for the single remaining ship of the five that set out. Berggreen writes, "... the weather continued to batter the boat by night too, so there was no rest for the crew, nor safe harbour, nor cooking fire, nor soft dry blanket, nor guarantee that their misery would end any time soon ... And so they tried again and again, fleeing for their lives, hoping to cheat death just one more time."This is history as thriller. Simply magnificent.

Having read and studied a great deal on epic sea journeys of bygone ages, I had never read an account of Magellan's voyage. In an effort to stem this ignorance I picked up Laurence Bergreen's book and quite simply found it to be a fantastic read and by far the finest book devoted to the age of discovery that I have read. What Magellan achieved is quite simply breathtaking. Not only was his expedition the first to discover an ocean passage around the South American continent (obviously the Magellan Straight) but also the first to complete a historic first circumnavigation of our globe. However such a simple summation is like comparing a drop of blood to a severed artery.Magellan a Portuguese national somehow gets the king of Spain to fund his ambitious expedition to find a route to the `Spice Islands' of the Moluccas. Leaving Spain in 1519 with a fleet of five ships and two hundred and sixty men the expedition returns three years later in one ship with eighteen souls. During an amazing but terrifying sixty thousand mile odyssey there does not seem to be a calamity that the `Moluccas expedition' did not encounter. They braved mutinies, storms, scurvy, drownings, torture, executions, wars, desertions, murders and other endless perils. Bergmen portrays each dangerous scenario accurately and with consumate detail.Apart from the dangers there are also the amazing experiences beheld of men encountering new peoples, customs, lands, flora and fauna. There are accounts of orgies with dusky Pacific Rim maidens as well as sections devoted to foreign kings and chieftains and their practices. All topics are amply described and are utterly fascinating...I found the Philippine custom of `Pelanging' very interesting but hope it does not get a modern resurgence (read about it or Google it).Ultimately what was the journey for...well it was to find a new route to the Spice Islands. To pioneer a new trading route to bring back the then amazingly expensive spices such as cloves, cinnamon, pepper and nutmeg. A sailor bringing back a small satchel of such spices in those days would enrich himself to the extent that he could purchase the ship that he journeyed on during the expedition. Return with spices the expedition survivors did, only one ship's worth but that resulted in nearly a million dollars worth of cargo ...without adding half a millennium of inflation!All of this is well told by the author in a superbly researched book that is equally well written with great descriptive detail. It also abounds with lateral information such as a fascinating description of 14th century Pacific Chinese treasure fleets and other like maritime information along with linkages to other great explorers of the age. The book is such an easy read you tend to forget the amount of information you have got from it.The correct summation of this book is that it is about a sea journey....a journey that was over a dozen times longer than Columbus's, a journey of an expedition that discovered the world and changed the course of history.....quite simply the most important sea voyage in maritime history.

"On 6 September 1522 a battered ship appeared on the horizon near the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain." And with this opening line Laurence Bergreen brings us back to that historic moment when the only ship of Magellan's great fleet returns home. I loved this opening chapter. The haunting way he portrays the ship and its crew is terrifying yet draws you in. Just what happened to the rest of the fleet? Where are Magellen and the 242 other members of the crew? It's a story at once fantastic and terrible. And, as cliché as this may sound, you really won't want to put it down. Everything is described in rich detail. I particularly enjoyed reading about life on board the ships. It's exactly what an adventure story should be. Highly enjoyable read and definitely recommended.