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We know the shape of the world today because ships of the mid-fiftennth to mid-eighteenth centuries, driven by wind and human muscle, were navigated into every last bay and estuary on Earth searching for new riches. First the take was spices and other exotic products of the Orient, then gold and ivory from Africa, followed by beaver pelts, coffee, and goods from the Americas, and finally luxurious sea otter pelts from the Northwest Coast of North America. The ships that made these voyages evolved over time and their navigators benefited from centuries of accumulated experience.

Voyages recounts the extraordinary feats of more than twenty of Europe's most daring maritime explorers as they ventured into the unknown and braved uncharted territory, including Christopher Columbus, Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, John Cabot, Giovanni da Verrazzano, Jacques Cartier, Martin Frobisher, Ferdinand Magellan, Francis Drake, and James Cook. Exquisitely illustrated with almost 100 of Gordon Miller's paintings, many detailed maps, and ship drawings, Voyages reveals the evolution of maritime technologies, the rise and fall of maritime empires, the extreme dangers of sailing uncharted waters, the courage and brutality of life at sea, and the discovery of new continents, cultures, and products. Through their voyages, these ships and sailors defined the true dimensions of the oceans and coastlines of the world.