Glyndwr Williams

One of the most dramatic periods in world history is the age of Europe's discovery of the world from Columbus and da Gama in the late fifteenth century to the voyages of James Cook in the eighteenth century. The extent of the changes can be seen by comparing the pre-Columbian maps, which showed no knowledge of either the Americas or the Pacific, with those of 1800, which in terms of projection, scale, and content approximate today's maps. In this...

"From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, English buccaneers, privateers, and naval expeditions sought fame and fortune in the distant reaches of the South Sea. This engrossing book investigates these maritime adventures and how they were described in popular accounts of the time-accounts that affected English consciousness and perceptions of the wider world and that influenced the planning and nature of the later great voyages of James Cook...