FERDINAND MAGELLAN

In September 1519, Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain with 270 men aboard five ships. Under Magellan, this fleet went in search of a passage through the Americas. This passage, they hoped, would provide Spain with a new route to the Far East—one that would give them a share in the coveted treasures of the Orient. When the voyage was finished, what Magellan had discovered proved to be of much greater significance than any riches. Through his courage and perseverance, Magellan gave humanity a new knowledge of its world, opening the entire globe to exploration.

[signed] Isaac Asimov

As with Asimov’s biography of Christopher Columbus, I enjoyed this book a heck of a lot more than I’d expected. Of course, an issue of National Geographic with an article on Magellan would have more information than this slim volume for children has—but the fact of the matter is that Ferdinand Magellan nonetheless has more information in it than anything else I’ve ever read on the topic, and I enjoyed it.

(This is more a conviction of me and my taste in reading, I suppose, than anything else. But the comment stands.)

This would definitely be an excellent volume to hand to a younger reader who needed more information on Magellan and his life.