Describes the top ten explorers whose expeditions changed the world.

Includes books, which contain ten linked biographies of key pioneers, achievers and notable figures in different fields of endeavour. This series features life links between entries, which reveal surprising and often overlooked chains of influence, giving each biography a fresh and eye-opening twist.

Examines ten major exploring expeditions which had an impact on the world and were intended as explorations, rather than conquest or commerce, from the first human migrations to the flight of Yuri Gagarin.

Stories of ten pioneering explorers with "life links" that reveal how later adventurers were inspired by those who went before.

Penetrating biographies written by a group of distinguished travel writers, broadcasters, and historians reveal the lives, motives, and passions of forty major explorers in history. It has always been mankind’s gift, or curse, to be inquisitive, and through the ages people have been driven to explore the limits of the worlds known to them—and beyond. Here are the stories of forty of the world’s greatest explorers from Europe, America, Asia, and Australia. These are men and women who changed our perception of the world through their courageous adventures. Organized thematically, the book opens with the oceanic journeys of five hundred years ago, when the great era of recorded exploration began. The following sections look at The Land, Rivers, Polar Ice, Deserts, Life on Earth, and New Frontiers. Many of these explorers recounted their journeys in vivid firsthand accounts; others were superb artists or photographers. The book features quotes from their journals and reports, and it is illustrated with paintings, photographs, engravings, and maps, so that we can experience their adventures through their own eyes and in their own words. Featured explorers include: Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, James Cook, Lewis and Clark, Richard Burton, Samuel de Champlain, David Livingstone, Roald Amundsen, Gertrude Bell, Alexander von Humboldt, Yuri Gagarin, and Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

Voyages that Changed the World tells, chronologically, the stories of the most momentous sea voyages in history and, in doing so, provides an intriguing look at the unveiling of our world. Each chapter describes the background to a remarkable voyage or series of voyages, the events and personalities of the journey, and the historical consequences. Liberally illustrated, the story behind each voyage is accompanied by maps of the routes, and illustrations and photographs of adventurers, explorers, seafarers and their vessels.