Book Review: Over the Edge of the World : Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe

Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe on amazon.com

Reader Rating: 8/10

Salaams! Finished this book a little while ago while traveling. TimL recommended it to me and loaned me his copy. This was a fascinating read and kept my attention pretty much the whole way through. The author does a very good job of taking the reader back into the early 16th century world and making it palpable. It is wonderful to learn--from first-hand accounts of sailors (and ship's logs) who were on this trip and survived--about the various hardships, mutinies, dangers, and untold uncertainties that Magellan went through to accomplish this incredible and historic feat, which is still talked about today. A historic feat that had a very high cost: Magellan left Spain with a fleet of 5 ships and 260 sailors, and only 1 battered ship returned 3 years later with a very weakened, rag-tag crew of 18 sailors! These guys literally sought "the edge," despite the "terrors" known and unknown, and took huge risks that most would shrink back from. As a result, they made history and turned the perception of everyone's world upside down and inside out.

Over the Edge of the World : Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (P.S.)

Over the Edge of the World : Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (P.S.) (Paperback)
by Laurence Bergreen "On September 6, 1522, a battered ship appeared on the horizon near the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Journalist Bergreen, who has penned biographies of James Agee, Louis Armstrong, Irving Berlin and Al Capone, superbly recreates Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan's obsessive 16th-century quest, an ill-fated journey that altered Europe's perception of the planet: "It was a dream as old as the imagination: a voyage to the ends of the earth.... Mariners feared they could literally sail over the edge of the world." In 2001, Bergreen traveled the South American strait that bears Magellan's name, and he adds to that firsthand knowledge satellite images of Magellan's route plus international archival research. His day-by-day account incorporates the testimony of sailors, Francisco Albo's pilot's log and the eyewitness accounts of Venetian scholar Antonio Pigafetta, who was on the journey. Magellan's mission for Spain was to find a water route to the fabled Spice Islands, and in 1519, the Armada de Molucca (five ships and some 260 sailors) sailed into the pages of history. Many misfortunes befell the expedition, including the brutal killing of Magellan in the Philippines. Three years later, one weather-beaten ship, "a vessel of desolation and anguish," returned to Spain with a skeleton crew of 18, yet "what a story those few survivors had to tell-a tale of mutiny, of orgies on distant shores, and of the exploration of the entire globe," providing proof that the world was round. Illuminating the Age of Discovery, Bergreen writes this powerful tale of adventure with a strong presence and rich detail. Maps, 16-page color photo insert.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

* Paperback: 512 pages
* Publisher: Harper Perennial (November 1, 2004)
* ISBN: 006093638X
* Average Customer Review: based on 67 reviews. (Write a review.)

February 1, 2004
Reviewer: Richard E. Hourula (Berkeley, CA. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
I loved this book.
The amazing story of Magellan's circumnavigation of the world practically writes itself, especially with access to the journals of Antonio Pigafetta, a Venetian "passenger". The key for any author is not muck up this incredible story. Bergreen succeeds wonderfully by offering a smooth read. The books 400 plus pages fly by. Bergreen seemingly omits nothing and, the journey is here in all its gory, exciting, repellent, horrifying, shocking, wondrous, cruel, beautiful, nerve-wracking, spine-tingling detail.
Bergreen presents about as clear a picture of Magellan the man as possible from nearly 500 years away. The reader is left to admire his leadership and navigational skills and lament his capriciousness and hubris.
Coming on the heels of the vastly overrated Columbus journeys, Magellan's expedition was to prove equally significant, though more calculated and replete with many, many more adventures and tragedies.
A scant few of the original crew and only one of the five ships completed the journey. Along the way there were horrendous storms, mutinies, executions, horrible accidents, illness (scurvy in particular) and all manner of encounters with natives. These encounters could lead to everything from feasts and orgies to murder and dismemberment.
Bergreen does a wonderful job of framing the story within the perspective of the times and the religious, political and social climates.
To me the real hero of the journey emerges in the person of Pigafetta who did a superlative of chronicling the adventure. His must be some of the most thoughtful and thorough journals of their times.
Bergreen's book does him and Magellan's journey justice.