The Great Journeys in History

Follow in the footsteps of history's most renowned explorers as they undertake their great journeys across the world - and beyond

Marco Polo, Ferdinand Magellan, David Livingstone, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong: these are some of the greatest travellers and pioneers of all time. The Great Journeys in History chronicles their stories and many more with specially commissioned maps, from the extraordinary migrations out of Africa by our earliest ancestors to voyages to the edge of our solar system and beyond. These epic journeys have changed the world and our understanding of it.

In antiquity, Alexander the Great trekked to the Indus and Hannibal across the Alps; medieval times saw the remarkable travels of Genghis Khan and Ibn Battuta. The Renaissance brought Columbus to the Americas and the circumnavigation of the world. The following centuries saw gaps in the global maps filled by Tasman, Bering and Cook, and scientific expeditions by Maria Sibylla Merian, Alexander von Humboldt and Darwin. In modern times, the last inhospitable ends of the earth have been reached, including both poles and the world’s highest mountain, as well as the moon and beyond.

Featuring contributions from Brian Fagan, Barry Cunliffe, Paul Cartledge, Toby Wilkinson and Ranulph Fiennes, The Great Journeys in History reveals the stories of those who set out into the unknown and explored the unexplored.