From the beginning of time, humans have been drawn to the mysteries of the world around them. Little by little, step by step, they explored and conquered and sometimes settled the most remote and difficult-to-reach places—the highest mountains, the depths of the sea, and even the atmosphere—until they could map every contour of every landmass on our planet.
This remarkable achievement would not have been possible without the courage and audacity of some exceptional individuals, people unafraid to face the unknown. Some of their names are familiar to the youngest of students: Marco Polo, Bartolomew Dias, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, and John Cabot, and then Ferdinand Magellan, James Cook, and Louis Antoine de Bougainville. Dig a little deeper to find Alexander von Humboldt, David Livingstone, Henry Morton Stanley, and many others. Ilaria Luzzana Caraci recounts their journeys and adventures in her books, masterfully recapturing the excitement and uncertainty of a time when going by sea was a gamble and entering an unknown forest was a challenge to fate.