The award-winning author of The Brendan Voyage makes a bold Pacific journey to test a scholar's theory that Asian navigators were the first to discover North America as early as 218 B.C., when the great sea captain Hsu Fu set sail in search of the elixir of immortality. Full-color inserts.

Tim Severin describes how in May 1993 he set sail from Hong Kong on a bamboo raft, made in Vietnam, on a 6000-mile voyage to America. During the six month journey that followed the crew survived encounters with storms and pirates, to come within 1000 miles of California.

The extraordinary story of how Tim Severin and his crew made maritime history by sailing across the Pacific on a bamboo raft. Their purpose: to test the theory that Asian raft sailors reached America 2,000 years ago. Their experience provides armchair adventurers with one of the most remarkable sea voyages ever, and offers a unique perspective of what happens when historical theories are literally put to the test. "Severin is a fine reporter and a literate writer who has produced a fascinating and rewarding blend of history, adventure, and contemporary reporting." "Severin uniquely combines in himself the gifts of the adventurer, the historian, and the litterateur."

From New York Times bestselling author Laurence Bergreen and author Sara Fray comes this immaculately researched history for young readers detailing the life of Zheng He, his complex and enduring friendship with his emperor, and the epic Seven Voyages he led that would establish China as a global power. 1405. The central coast of China. At nearly seven feet tall, Admiral Zheng He looked out at the sea before him. For the next three decades, the oceans would be his home, as he would command over 1,500 ships and thousands of sailors in seven journeys that would predate the heart of the European Age of Exploration. Over his seven epic journeys, Zheng He explored the Northern Pacific and Indian Oceans, traveling as far as the east coast of Africa, expanding Chinese power globally, warring with pirates, and capturing enemies along the way in the name of his emperor, Zhu Di. But this giant figure was not always at the helm of a ship.

A Tender Voyage is the first full-length study of the history of childhood and children's lives in late imperial China. The author draws on an extraordinary range of sources to analyze both the normative concept of childhood—literary and philosophical—and the treatment and experience of children in China. The study begins with the history of pediatrics and newborn care and their evolution over time. The author moves on to the social environment of the child, including models of upbringing and expected behavior and the treatment of different kinds of children, including the rebellious and the "gentle" child. She examines the role of the mother, notably her close and complex relations with her sons, and the broader emotional world of children, their relationships with the adults around them, and the destructive power of death. The last section discusses concepts of childhood in China and the West. Throughout, the study keeps in view the issue of representation versus practice, the role of memory, and the importance of listening for what is not said.