Over the Edge of the World Updated Edition: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe
4.6 | 4,922 ratings
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Last update: 03-26-2026
Product details
- Publisher : Mariner Books
- Publication date : July 23, 2019
- Edition : Updated ed.
- Language : English
- Print length : 512 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0062890484
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062890481
- Item Weight : 10.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.31 x 0.82 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank:#1,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Travelogues & Travel Essays
- Traveler & Explorer Biographies
- Expeditions & Discoveries World History (Books)
- Customer Reviews:4.64.6 out of 5 stars(4,922)
Over the Edge of the World Updated Edition: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the GlobeTop reviews from the United States
- Raoul DukeExtraordinary tale of explorationBergreen's story of Magellan's voyage to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe is fascinating and very well written. The author assembles information from the various logs and accounts maintained during the voyage (primarily the account by crewmember Pigafetta), but he also provides very interesting historical context to help the reader understand the significance of the voyage. Examples include background on the Holy Roman Empire (King Charles of Spain was campaigning to become king of the Empire at the time of Magellan's voyage), a very fascinating discussion of the Chinese treasure fleet that explored the Spice Islands before the Portugese and Spanish, and the lucrative spice trade between Europe and the Far East. All of this is assembled into a form that is entertaining, informative, and enjoyable to read.
The story itself is simply gripping. Many people are familiar with the general nature of Magellan's voyage, but few understand how bold it was at the time. Indeed, navigators in this time had no idea whether a strait between the Atlantic and Pacific existed, what lay beyond South America, or how great a distance they would have to travel to reach the Pacific islands. In today's terms, Magellan's voyage would be no less bold than a trip to Mars. Nor do many people have an understanding of the difficulties the voyage faced. Bergreen explains, in an excellent narrative fashion, how the trip began to experience difficulties as soon as it left Spain when Magellan learned the Portugese intended to capture the fleet and arrest him for treason. Throughout the trip, the armada experiences storms, mutinies, shipwrecks, scurvy, leaky hulls, and hostile natives. The stories of how Magellan and his successors overcome these challenges are incredible and awe-inspiring. - J. GrattanA harrowing journey (3.75*s)This book is a good effort to capture the extraordinary, harrowing, three-year-long journey made by a Spanish armada of five ships in 1519, led by the determined Portuguese captain Ferdinand Magellan, in finding a westward path from Spain to the Spice Islands near the Philippines. Magellan's voyage is a part of the Age of Discovery that saw a concerted exploration of the Americas by the Europeans in the decades prior to 1519, at which point King Charles of Spain agreed to finance Magellan due to the possibilities of profiting handsomely from tons of exotic spices from the Spice Islands.
The fact that Magellan's armada actually circumnavigated the globe and did locate the Spice Islands almost defies belief. Huge obstacles were encountered at every turn. And, the fact that only one ship and 18 of the original 260 men who embarked on the journey actually made it back to Spain, testifies to the extreme difficulties and to their courage and perseverance. The biggest difficulty for the voyage was the sheer ignorance of what lay ahead. There were few maps and charts and most of them were wrong. The vast majority of people in that era believed in sea monsters and the flatness of the earth. The men of this voyage had to constantly deal with something new and usually dangerous.
They frequently encountered raging seas for days on end in creaking, leaking ships, being tossed about as toys. Their dealings with native peoples were tentative, never knowing whether they were friend or foe. The food supply for months on the open ocean was entirely inadequate with many sailors dying from scurvy - a lack of vitamin C. And then there was the politics of the voyage - the division between the Portuguese and the Spaniards, which resulted in constant mutinous behavior.
Little would be known about this journey were it not for a detailed pilot's log and the journal of a man who came along just to chronicle the journey. Magellan is depicted as resolute and rigid with complete devotion to King Charles and the Catholic Church. There is no doubt that his unbending personality got him into trouble with the crew and the other captains, and most certainly led to his death in Philippines as he attempted to coerce a native leader. However, it is his strength and his ability to deal with any situation that enabled the voyage to achieve some measure of success.
The book is interesting but does get bogged down at various times in the course of the journey - a violent storm is a violent storm. A definite shortcoming of the book is the absence of maps that would permit the reader to follow Magellan's wanderings. There are interesting details such as the brief dominance of the seas by the Chinese in the century before Magellan and the more lurid details of methods of torture and the sexual practices of various native cultures. The author's task is difficult: to make real a journey occurring 500 years ago stretching over three years with limited information available. It would leave anyone open to criticism.