Showing titles in Expeditions & Discoveries

Historia oculta de la conquista de América pretende rescatar aquellos hechos que tuvieron relevancia para el desarrollo de la conquista de América y para la posterior configuración tanto de las fronteras sudamericanas como de la propia identidad hispanoamericana. Son hechos olvidados por la distancia temporal entre aquellos hombres y nosotros, o también ninguneados por aquellos que pretendieron acrecentar su fama u ocultar sus delitos, no obstante algunos de ellos, como la incidencia de las enfermedades en colonos e indígenas....

This is a compilation of historical accounts that contradict everything we have been taught about ancient America. The accounts are substantiated by the testimony of the Native Americans who lived in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions of North America. American Indians speak of a people who were skilled in arts and engaged in trade whose remains could be found in the burial mounds.

In 1805 and 1806, Aaron Burr, former vice president of the newly formed American republic, traveled through the Trans-Appalachian West gathering support for a mysterious enterprise, for which he was arrested and tried for treason in 1807. This book explores the political and cultural forces that shaped how Americans made sense of the uncertain rumors and reports about Burr's intentions and movements, and examines what the resulting crisis reveals about their anxieties concerning the new nation's fragile union and uncertain republic.

In 1690, a dramatic account of piracy was published in Mexico City. The Misfortunes of Alonso Ramírez described the incredible adventures of a poor Spanish-American carpenter who was taken captive by British pirates near the Philippines and forced to work for them for two years. After circumnavigating the world, he was freed and managed to return to Mexico, where the Spanish viceroy commissioned the well-known Mexican scholar Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora to write down Ramírez's account as part of an imperial propaganda campaign against pirates.

The most seminal event of the last millennium might also be its most controversial. As schoolchildren have been taught for over 500 years, "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue." Like Christopher Columbus before him, Hernán Cortés was lionized for his successes for centuries without questioning his tactics or motives, while indigenous views of the man have been overwhelmingly negative for the consequences his conquests had. Just about the only thing everyone agrees upon is that Cortés had a profound impact on the history of North America.

During the Age of Exploration, some of the most famous and infamous individuals were Spain's best known conquistadors. Naturally, as one of the best known conquistadors, Francisco Pizarro (1471/6-1541) is also one of the most controversial. Like Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortés before him, Pizarro was celebrated in Europe for subduing the Inca Empire, a culture that fascinated his contemporaries.

A remarkable true story of adventure, betrayal, and survival set in one of the world's most inhospitable places. In 1906, from atop a snow-swept hill in the ice fields northwest of Greenland, hundreds of miles from another human being, Commander Robert E. Peary spotted a line of mysterious peaks looming in the distance. He called this unexplored realm "Crocker Land". Scientists and explorers agreed that the world-famous explorer had discovered a new continent rising from the frozen Arctic Ocean.

This audiobook is jam-packed with fascinating facts and stories. For instance, it covers all that you need to know about the nine realms as well as captivating tales of Odin, Thor, Loki, and Ragnarok. The Vikings of Norse poetry and saga were a fearless lot, and their tales were frequently tragic. Some, if not all, of the myths were based on real people and real events. These heroes accomplished many fantastic feats, some of them even documented by their enemies.

He aquí la mayor aventura jamás vivida por pueblo alguno. En poco más de medio siglo, los españoles hallaron, exploraron, conquistaron, y en buena parte, poblaron un territorio veinte veces mayor que la península Ibérica, llegaron a un nuevo continente, abrieron dos océanos, y dieron por vez primera la vuelta al mundo. El descubrimiento y la conquista de América cambiaron para siempre la historia universal.

Huracán is a suspenseful historical fiction of the infamous 1733 treasure fleet sunk off the Florida Keys during a major hurricane. Twenty-two galleons were either beached or sank with untold fortune in precious jewels, gems, gold and silver coins, and many souls. Huracán provides insight into life aboard a 1733 treasure galleon, along with her crew and passengers. This suspenseful novel incorporates many little-known facts in nautical history of the period along with a cast of lovable characters who will become your friends.

Ever wonder what it would be like to pick up one day and move abroad? In the summer of 2013, Kris Loomis and her husband sold all their worldly possessions and, along with their three-legged cat, Triplet, did just that. They left their comfy life behind and moved to Ecuador! Follow along as they battle 'mañana' time, stinky buses, and the dreaded 'Frankenstein' shower. Will they adjust to South American culture? Will Triplet learn to meow in Spanish?

There is so much about Texas that few people know. Who knows about the lawless Horrell Brothers, who feuded for years with "Pink" Higgins. What is the oldest town in Texas? Learn about the Jaybird-Woodpecker War, or about the Texas Enchanted Rock. Then there was the fence-cutting war along with the usual Texas favorites, the Alamo, Cattleman Charles Goodnight, Texas' First Navy, and the San Elizario Salt War. If that not enough, you can learn more about Pirate Jean Lafitte.

Cabeza de Vaca's mode of transportation, afoot on portions of two continents in the early decades of the 16th century, fits one dictionary definition of the word "pedestrian". By no means, however, should the ancillary meanings of "commonplace" or "prosaic" be applied to the man or his remarkable adventures. Between 1528 and 1536, he trekked an estimated 2480 to 2640 miles of North American terrain from the Texas coast near Galveston Island to San Miguel de Culiacán near the Pacific Coast of Mexico.

This unlikely figure entered the rich man's world of polar exploration through an astonishing persistence and succeeded through the same quality. Shackleton's place in history is not the one he set out to make, but his extraordinary deeds have made his contributions to early exploration of Antarctica indelible. Despite the victor's wreath eventually going to another, Shackleton's name is essential to any discussion of Antarctic exploration, based on personal heroism more than logistical triumphs.

Most anyone who has received a basic education in world history knows the story of how "in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." Most also know that Christopher Columbus made first contact with the Americas while searching for a water route to Asia. However, far fewer people remember that the search for such a route continued for centuries after Columbus' death.

When interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau, and his Shoshone Indian wife, Sacagawea, joined the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, they headed into country largely unknown to them, as it was to Thomas Jefferson's hand-picked explorers. There is little doubt as to the importance of Sacagawea's presence on the journey. She has become a near-legendary figure for her role as interpreter, guide, and "token of peace". Toussaint, however, has been maligned in both fiction and nonfiction alike.

Perhaps the most famous – or as many would put it, infamous – of these naval corporations was the Dutch East India Company, also known as VOC. Established around the beginning of the 17th century, this nautical behemoth of a corporation was determined to squeeze everyone else out of the market. Vested with the power to wage war and exterminate any who dared stand in their way, the rest of the world stood by as the unstoppable force took over the whole of international maritime trade.

A visit to the Palace of Knossos in Crete in 2005 leads to the story of the fabled Ring of Minos, lost for 2,000 years but rediscovered in the 1930s, now in the local museum of Herakleon. The author joins the tour of the ancient Minoan palace and adds historical reference to this detailed study of a great and vanished culture.

Published just seven weeks after the killing of Jesse James, this volume gives the full particulars of each and every dark and desperate deed in the career of this most noted outlaw of any time or nation! The facts and incidents contained herein were dictated to the author by the bandit's wife and his mother, to ensure that every secret act, every hitherto unknown incident, every crime, and every motive was truthfully disclosed!

"Il Milione" è considerato l'opera storica, geografica, politica e scientifica più importante e preziosa del Medioevo, prima della scoperta dell'America. Nessuno prima d'allora, aveva riportato notizie certe sull'Oriente. I suoi territori, i suoi popoli, le loro usanze, la fauna e la flora autoctone, erano un mistero, che con le sue esplorazioni, Marco Polo svelò. Quando il mercante veneziano tornò nella Repubblica Serenissima, i suoi racconti destarono interesse e meraviglia.