The Great Journeys in History

by Robin Hanbury-Tenison

A lively collection of the adventurous stories of the greatest explorers in history. Ferdinand Magellan, Genghis Khan, Thor Heyerdahl, Amelia Earhart, and Neil these are some of the greatest travelers of all time. This book chronicles their stories and many more, describing epic voyages―from early trips through the great port city of Alexandria to the latest journeys into space. In antiquity, we follow Alexander the Great to the Indus and Hannibal across the Alps; in medieval times, we trek beside Genghis Khan and Ibn Battuta. The Renaissance eventually led to Columbus visiting the Americas and to the circumnavigation of the world. In the following centuries, global maps are filled in by Abel Tasman, Vitus Bering, and James Cook. Journeys specifically made for scientific discoveries, most famously by Alexander von Humboldt and Charles Darwin, begin. In modern times, the ends of the earth were reached―including both poles and the world’s highest mountain. Editor Robin Hanbury-Tenison leads an incredible team of fifty-two contributors, including Robert Ballard and Ranulph Fiennes, who relate firsthand experiences with the journeys and places they describe. The Great Journeys in History chronicles the stories of bold, early travelers who explored the unexplored and who set out into the unknown, bringing alive the romance and thrill of adventure. 114 illustrations

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel

408 pages, Paperback

Published May 4, 2021

Reviews

[Elentarri · Rating 2 out of 5]

The "Great Journeys" themselves might have been inspired and be inspiring to some people, but the very abbreviated descriptions of these great journeys as given in this book is decidedly uninspiring and down-right boring. The maps in this book are very nice. The selected great journeys may provide a starting off point for further reading. But otherwise, this is essentially a bathroom reader - each chapter is between 3 and 5 pages long and give the bare-bones minimum on each journey.  Superficial and bland.

[Henrik Brynildsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fin oversikt over de viktigste reisene i menneskehetens historie. Reisene er kategorisert kronologisk, helt fra oldtiden til i dag. Boka er tørr, men nå er jeg gira på å lese mer om Shackleton f.eks.

[Linus Jern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book for the dreamers. Short stories of all the great explorative journeys mankind has done throughout history.

Personal favourites were the Renaissance sea journeys, the journeys into the heart of Africa by Livingstone and Stanley and the arctic explorations by Nordenskiöld and Amundsen etc.

Leaves the mind wondering on where the horizons end…

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasing little collection of essays. Best bits were the Renaissance sea voyages and the polar exploration sections, including a standout piece by Ranulph Fiennes on the Scott-Amundsen race to the south pole.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic summarised accounts of incredible, spectacular, death defying and horrific adventures.

[Zachary Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have finished reading “The Great Journeys in History” by Robin Hanbury-Tenison.

In the beginning humans migrated to most parts of the world. Very little of our world remained completely undiscovered and uninhabited. This means that most journeys in this book have seen humans rediscovering parts of the world that other humans have long ago discovered before.

The reasons for the journeys are many and varied including; military campaigns, scientific expeditions, exploration expeditions, religious pilgrimages and journeys to other planetoids. Sometimes they are just extraordinary individuals who want to prove to the naysayers that it is possible to achieve the seemingly possible, often in the face of great personal danger. Some of these individuals never returned alive or returned at all from their journeys.

Who the journeymen and women makes for interesting reading since many of them are colourful characters, for good or ill. Some of them are people with are impressively intelligent. All of them went through physical ordeals that few of us will come close to. Sadly, a disconcerting number of them had trouble adjusting to life after their journeys. Sometimes this took the forms over petty public fights concerning their reputations. For a sad few readjustment to normal life was too much and they took their own lives.

This book is divided into eras of travel with very short episodic chapters (from the 18th century onwards each century has a chapter). Each chapter takes approximately 5-10 minutes to read. I had my doubts that with chapters this length it would be hard for me to feel immersed or even sense much of the epic scales of the journeys of the amount of toll of personal endurance they could take. Personally, I found the chapters that took place in frozen environments the most vividly gripping and the most physically intimidating.

I found what this book taught me most, regardless of the characters described, was to respect determination and feats of endurance. In some ways I felt this despite the ulterior motives behind a worrying number of the journeys, since many of the journeys were really scouting parties for future empire expansion. The ones I loved reading about the most were the scientific expeditions which often uncovered new forms of life.

All together I enjoyed this book. I found the writing accessible, the stories often enthralling and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about parts of the world I hadn’t read about much before. My only minor gripe is that the parts that mentioned Space Travel were a bit entry level for my tastes. But then I am a self-confessed Space nerd.

[Лада Бакал · Rating 4 out of 5]

Примерно все на свете открыли англичане, вот краткий итог этой книги. Эверест, полюса, вокруг света на воздушном шаре, скитания вокруг и около Тибета, африканские озера, Килиманджаро и Лунные горы, горные восхождения в Европе, пустыни Малой Азии, Сирия и Индия. Англичане истово путешествовали и написали про это множество книг. Еще немало нового пооткрывали разные завоеватели, от Македонского до конкистадоров. А вообще цинга, холод, живые консервы из собак, которых поели Амундсен и товарищи, ужасы на "Терроре", бедная невеста Лаперуза, плавание французов по Меконгу, Тура Хейердала на "Кон-Тики" и прочие страсти. Если вам, несмотря ни на что описанное, все-таки хочется махнуть в Кордильеру Бланку — или Негру, встретить рассвет на горе или на перевале — вы безнадежны, дорогой товарищ, это у вас в крови. Или вы, без сомнения, подлинный англичанин.

Книга — сборник рассказов совсем разных авторов о совсем разных путешествиях; и не все из них одинаково хороши. Леденящие кровь – Франклин, Амундсен и Нансен, очень смешной и неожиданный Пржевальский. В книге вам не встретится никакого Миклухо-Маклая и Рериха, но попадется много незнакомцев — на верблюде, как из 1001 ночи, два года добиравшихся из Дамаска до Багдада. Если вы забыли, как началась эта рецензия, взгляните на первую фразу — и вы тут же поймете, что были они, все эти ребята, конечно же...

[Andrada · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good, if rather cursory glance at some of the greatest journeys in history. It covers everything from early migration routes to military campaigns of conquest to the modern quest to reach the final frontiers on Earth and beyond. Many journeys end in death or disillusionment and suicide. The explorers are more often unlikeable (if not downright despicable sometimes) than the sort of charismatic daredevils popular media typically casts into these roles. A lot of the journeys are less about adventure and more a testament to humanity’s power of endurance and resourcefulness under extreme circumstances.

The quality of the writing varies greatly across the book, with some contributors clearly more used to picking up a pen for journalistic writing than others. I also wished the chapters were longer and included more details. At times, the journeys were just a series of dates and routes with very little else that might catch the interest of the reader. I would say (if all the maps included in the book don’t already tell you that) geography plays a central role in the way the book was put together. As such, it is an admirable effort, but far too short to be anything but encyclopaedic.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and intriguing book which illuminated small corners of history which often go uncelebrated in our modern times of easy travel and exploration. Often we forget the path which has been meticulously and painstakingly laid out for our travels by our forefathers and mothers, by indigenous skills and by dogged determination. A well-edited book which brought together dozens of authors in an articulate manner, with a concise touch which allowed all the stories to flow together seamlessly. A personal stand-out for me was Robin Knox-Johnston's first hand account of his single-handed sail around the world, a unique passage in the book. I found myself scribbling down the titles of several other first-hand accounts to get my hands on for further reference and insight. The only fault which prevented me giving this book five stars was how short this book is, at no fault of anyone involved. Such a rich history will always be hampered by summarisation, but Hanbury-Tension has done a wonderful job of bringing together generations of adventure for those looking to renew their love for historical non-fiction and travel.

[Janita · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a lot to like about this book.
Firstly, I learned a lot about journeys in parts of the world that the West easily overlooks. Journeys into the Middle East and Africa for example.
Secondly, the book is put together in such a way as each 'Journey' is narrated by a different author...someone in a position to know what they are talking about (e.g. the sailor Robin Knox-Johnston).
Thirdly, each journey is described and detailed in such a way that there is a satisfying dose of humanity attached to each summary...about the person involved and their frailties and idiosyncrasies.
Fourthly, each chapter or journey has a useful 'extra reading' info in the substantial bibliography.
So this book is not just a dry rehashing of factoids from extraordinary journeys from history, but it is a skilfully encapsulated summary of things you want to know more about.
The stories curated for this book are all so very worthy, leading to many moments of "How come I never knew about this before?" All in all, when I think about it, this book deserves 5 stars and not the 4 I originally gave it....and PLUS it has useful diagrams and charts and photos. Yes! 5 stars it is.

[Olga · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the first page of the book it is written: "Robin Hanbury Tenison is a well known explorer, auther ... Named by the Sunday Times in 1982 as the greatest explorer of the past 20 years..." After reading this review I bought the book. And I was totally disappointed. I am sure that this man is a great explore. But it does not mean that he is an auther who is able to write informative books.

[Bonjour · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry but the narration to this book is absolutely horrendous. As an adept fan of historical fiction and facts, I struggled to read and grasp any of the centuries being talked about as all the topics were skimmed through in mere seconds. I was disinterested within 2 pages. The author skipped through a lot of description that would make the narration much captivating.

[Jeronimo Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing book about the most extraordinary journeys in human history from getting to the moon the first explorers. you follow nomads, kings, religious people, explorers, scientists and pirates all with one common thing a longing to know what is beyond, to travel to discover

[Daniel Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely interesting look at some amazing journeys. Mostly well written though as each section is different in author, tones can be a bit different and some are more interesting than others. The maps and images included are excellent additions.

[Irwin Weiss, MD · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of many explorations from ancient times until today’s space missions. The vignettes are short, no more than 2-3 pages but capture the essence of the journey. Fascinating read for anyone interested in geography and exploration.

[jj Grilliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this on my trip to New Orleans. I had heard of some of these explorers but not some of them. I also enjoyed having the explorers in chronological order. Good read.

[Charles Greenough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very very brilliant, truely enjoyed reading this book! Was greatly imaginative and not too in depth to lose track of the many authors story. Fully recommend!

[F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. I just didn't like the quality of the paper. It won't last years.

[LaNi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book.
It tells you a lot about geography, history, cultures and just great adventures in a very well summarized way. It doesn't go into details on every specific journey, but it does spark interest on going deeper on some of the topics. You also will find here some of very well known personalities you not really associate with journeys and its just great.
I've also hit that book at the absolute best time in my life for it to come.
Absolutely recommend.