Over the Edge of the World [Kindle Edition] Author: Laurence Bergreen | Language: English | ISBN:
B0018ND8B6 | Format: PDF, EPUB
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Ferdinand Magellan's daring circumnavigation of the globe in the sixteenth century was a three-year odyssey filled with sex, violence, and amazing adventure. Now in Over the Edge of the World, prize-winning biographer and journalist Laurence Bergreen entwines a variety of candid, firsthand accounts, bringing to life this groundbreaking and majestic tale of discovery that changed both the way explorers would henceforth navigate the oceans and history itself.
Books with free ebook downloads available Download Over the Edge of the World [Kindle Edition]
- File Size: 696 KB
- Print Length: 504 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0066211735
- Publisher: HarperCollins e-books; Reprint edition (April 30, 2008)
- Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
- Language: English
- ASIN: B0018ND8B6
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,112 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #2
in Books > History > Europe > Portugal - #3
in Books > History > Modern (16th-21st Centuries) > 16th Century - #4
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Travel > Specialty Travel > Adventure
- #2
in Books > History > Europe > Portugal - #3
in Books > History > Modern (16th-21st Centuries) > 16th Century - #4
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Travel > Specialty Travel > Adventure
Why couldn't they have used books like this as history textbooks back when I was in high school? All I was taught back then was that Magellan's expedition was the first to circumnavigate the globe (even though he himself died along the way); that the voyage took 3 years; and that although Magellan was from Portugal, he sailed for Spain. Here's some of the good stuff they left out (but which Mr. Bergreen includes): Magellan tried to get King Manuel of Portugal to finance the expedition. Magellan didn't have any luck. (Not surprising, since the explorer already had "a history" with the king, and the king didn't like him.) What could have been the last straw for Magellan was when, after an audience with the king, Magellan tried to kiss the king's hand (as was customary). The king withdrew his hand and wouldn't allow Magellan to kiss it. Magellan finally decided to give Manuel the kiss-off, went to Charles I of Spain, and had better luck. Charles was quite interested in the potential profits from the spice trade. (He was broke after borrowing a wad of money from the Fugger family. The reason he borrowed the money? He had to pay a lot of bribes to the electors who were going to decide who the next Holy Roman Emperor was going to be. Charles wanted the position even though, as Voltaire later said, the Holy Roman Empire wasn't holy, wasn't Roman, and wasn't an empire.) Manuel of Portugal was quite upset with Magellan for offering his services to Spain, especially because he brought secret Portuguese navigational charts with him (which Mr. Bergreen explains would be equivalent to the theft of nuclear secrets during the Cold War). Manuel sent an envoy to Spain to try and talk Magellan out of the trip. When that didn't work, the envoy bad-mouthed Magellan to Charles I. That didn't work either.
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