Magellan: Over the Edge of the World: Over the Edge of the World

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1626721203 ISBN 13: 9781626721203

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, 2017

A middle-grade adaptation of Laurence Bergreen's adult bestseller, about Magellan's historic voyage around the globe.

On September 6, 1522, a horribly battered ship manned by eighteen malnourished, scurvy-ridden sailors appeared on the horizon near a Spanish port. They were survivors of the first European expedition to circle the globe. Originally comprised of five ships and 260 sailors, the fleet's captain and most of its crew were dead. How did Ferdinand Magellan's voyage to circle the world―one of the largest and best-equipped expeditions ever mounted―turn into this ghost ship? The answer is provided in this thoroughly researched tale of mutiny and murder spanning the entire globe, marked equally by triumph and tragedy. Thrilling, grisly, and completely true, Magellan: Over the Edge of the World tells a story that not only marks a turning point in history, but also resonates powerfully with the present.

About the Author:

Laurence Bergreen is an award-winning biographer whose previous titles include Columbus: The Four Voyages, Voyage to Mars: NASA's Search for Life Beyond Earth, Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life, Capone: The Man and the Era, As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin, and James Agee: A Life, each considered the definitive work on its subject. His work has been translated into twenty-five languages worldwide. He has written for many national publications, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and has taught at the New School for Social Research. A graduate of Harvard University, he lives in New York City.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 7–10—The opening lines of the prologue set the grim tone for this harrowing story of ambition and adventure in the age of explorers. Bergreen begins by tracing the complex bureaucratic and diplomatic machinations, with first the Portuguese and then the Spanish king, necessary for Ferdinand Magellan to obtain backing for an armada of five ships and more than 250 sailors. Through his balance of brute force and sophisticated personal diplomacy, Magellan drove his crew through multiple insubordinations and attempts at mutiny, the ravages of scurvy, a shipwreck on the Argentine coast, and troubled and sometimes violent interactions with indigenous peoples to discover the passage through the straits that bear his name, a sea route to support the lucrative spice trade, and the Pacific trade winds. The narrative is broken up with useful digressions on related topics. One chapter details the incredible difficulty of life at sea; another focuses on the early history of Chinese and Arab trade with the islands now known as the Philippines. Visual materials include reproductions of contemporaneous maps, paintings, and drawings; relevant photographs, such as one depicting a modern replica of Magellan's ship Victoria; and illustrations from a journal kept by Magellan's assistant. The volume concludes with copious chapter-by-chapter source notes and an extensive bibliography. Though it occasionally strays into florid language ("The voyage would sustain them all, or it would destroy them all") and Magellan's often problematic actions could be better contextualized, this is a richly researched and highly readable explication of a perennially favorite subject. VERDICT For large world history and biography collections.—Bob Hassett, Luther Jackson Middle School, Falls Church, VA