The authors reveal the life of William Dampier, explorer, naturalist, and pirate-genius who inspired Darwin, Defoe, and Cook.

Intelligent and able, William Dampier spent years as a pirate before sailing with the Royal Navy. This is his own account of his remarkable voyages and groundbreaking scientific observations"

This fascinating travel and adventure book tells of pirate life and offers a rare look at the 17th-century botany and anthropology of Central and South America and the East Indies. 7 illustrations.

From the first people to leave Africa to the first to leave the planet, the urge to explore the unknown has driven human progress. Explorers tells the story of humanity's explorations, taking the reader into the lives of some of the most intrepid people ever known. Throughout history, exploration has arisen from a wide range of impulses, from trade and the search for lands to colonize, to scientific curiosity and missionary zeal. This book tells the story of explorers of every type, from those chasing glory to those seeking enlightenment. In its pages, readers will meet some of history's most famous trail blazers-people whose courage opened frontiers, turned voids into maps, forged nations, connected cultures, and added to humankind's knowledge of the world by leaps and bounds. Each life is captured in context, by considering the knowledge of the world in which the explorers lived, the factors that gave rise to their expeditions, and the technology available to them at the time. Their discoveries, and the consequences, are also considered in depth, and highlighted with beautiful maps, photographs, and illustrations. The tales of the explorers' assistants and companions are woven into the overall story, along with an examination of the qualities that made the them drop everything in pursuit of discovery.

The first sailors braved the North Sea and the Baltic in open wooden boats: their aims were varied - to fish, to trade, to conquer and plunder. Without maps or compasses, they steered by the sun or by landmarks on the coast. Nevertheless they discovered Iceland and North America and explored the rivers that flowed through Europe and Russia into the Black Sea. With the Frisians and the Vikings, extensive trade routes, better ships, larger harbours and wealthy coastal towns developed. The pinnacle of these advances was the Hansa, a commercial network that ran from Bruges to Riga. In recent years archaeologists have discovered much about the development of their ships: the elegant Viking longboat, the ubiquitous cog, the carrack and the caravel. Much, too, has been revealed about life in Viking settlements and the bustling Hanseatic cities. In this engaging and highly-illustrated volume, Dirk Meier brings to life the world of the medieval seaman, based on evidence from ship excavations and contemporary accounts of voyages. Dr Dirk Meier teaches ancient and medieval history and is Head of Coastal Archaeology at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany.

This innovative guide will lead you through the birthplace of the blues, covering the world-famous attractions, historic sites, funky shops, and gold record legacies of Memphis and the surrounding Mississippi Delta. With a strong focus on modern-day arts and music enclaves, as well as the storied sites where the blues got their start; hundreds of top-notch dining, lodging, and recreational recommendations; over one hundred illuminating photos and maps; and travel logistics, this is the most comprehensive guide to the region to-date.

From an acclaimed naval historian, Crusoe's Island charts the curious relationship between the British and an island on the other side of the world: Robinson Crusoe, in the South Pacific.The tiny island assumed a remarkable position in British culture, most famously in Daniel Defoe's novel. Andrew Lambert reveals the truth behind the legend of this place, bringing to life the voices of the visiting sailors, scientists and artists, as well as the wonders, tragedy and violence that they encountered.

This guide covers all of North Florida and the Panhandle south through Gainesville, including Pensacola, Panama City, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and St. Augustine. Whether you’re looking for a vacation spot on the Gulf Coast, a wild river to paddle, a dramatic waterfall, or a historic homestead to visit, seasoned travel writers Friend and Wolf show you the best of everything in the region. Coverage includes Gainesville, Pensacola, Panama City, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and St. Augustine, with hundreds of authoritative and dependable lodging and dining recommendations for the entire area.

In 1674, it is three years since Henry Morgan’s pirates sacked Panama. England is now at peace with Spain, and soon France, Holland, and Spain will briefly be at peace among themselves. But soon buccaneers and their French counterparts, the filibusters, will seize the opportunity of material gain presented by the far-flung and failing Spanish Empire. And Spain will produce its own notorious pirates, whose depredations against the English and French will become legend. These men of opportunistic calculation and desperate courage live in a wilder, larger, and richer time and place than any other frontier in modern history—the Spanish Main. Unflinchingly, unhesitatingly, unabashedly, they will take to the peaceful seas for riches by force of arms. The world will witness piracy on a grand scale. While Benerson Little’s previous work showed brilliantly how pirates actually plied their trade, The Buccaneer’s Realm focuses on their cultural and physical environments. It describes not merely their deeds but their world—the New World of the Spanish Main and its many peoples, freedoms, dangers, and exploits that are the foundation of the Americas. A detailed and lively description of pirate life, it will especially appeal to readers with an interest in maritime, naval, military, and colonial history, as well as sociologists, anthropologists, and armchair adventurers.