Title: Fascinating Ride
Product review: Having just finished The Lost City of Z (highly recommended), I was looking for another book on exploration and found this book. What a page turner! Bergreen kept me rivetted from the first page and I found the historical context as well as the actual voyage itself extremely interesting and absorbing. I had no clue about the Portuguese/Spanish race to the Spice Islands and how influential both countries were in the 1500s. Nor did I know how advanced the Chinese were in early exploration. I cannot fathom how much work Mr Bergreen put into creating this book - all the translations, historical documents etc etc - its extremely impressive. I was amazed by the conflicting views of Magellen himself - a cruel tyrant and yet a brilliant navigator. This book was enthralling from beginning to end. I was very sad when the book ended and will be seeking out Bergreen's book on Marco Polo soon.
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