Over the Edge of the World

Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe

By: Laurence Bergreen

Narrated by: Laurence Bergreen

In 1519 Magellan and his fleet of five ships set sail from Seville, Spain, to discover a water route to the fabled Spice Islands in Indonesia, where the most sought-after commodities (cloves, pepper, and nutmeg) flourished. Three years later, a handful of survivors returned with an abundance of spices from their intended destination, but with just one ship carrying 18 emaciated men. During their remarkable voyage around the world the crew endured starvation, disease, mutiny, and torture. Many men died, including Magellan, who was violently killed in a fierce battle.

This is the first full account in nearly half a century of this voyage into history: a tour of the world emerging from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance; a startling anthropological account of tribes, languages, and customs unknown to Europeans; and a chronicle of a desperate grab for commercial and political power.

©2003 Laurence Bergreen (P)2003 HarperCollinsPublishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Journalist Bergreen] superbly recreates Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan's obsessive 16th-century quest....Bergreen writes this powerful tale of adventure with a strong presence and rich detail." (Publishers Weekly)

"Bergreen tells a well-rounded story of Magellan....He also puts the voyage into its historical context....Fascinating reading for history buffs, and a great story that rivals any seagoing adventure." (Booklist)

The Voice is NOT a Problem

I held off on buying this book for months because of the one-star rating by the listener who could not stand the author's voice. Well, I wish I hadn't waited. Sure, the guy's voice is a bit geeky, but few of us have a voice like James Earl Jones and others. Having the author read the book lends authenticity. I had no problems with it and found the book fascinating. It the subject matter interests you, do not hesitate. You will enjoy this book.

Nuanced

Very interesting, exciting and inspiring - the narrative is engaging and the positions pretty nuanced.

Amazing adventure

Excellent story of hardship, luck, death and survival. But authors should stick to writing and not narrating.

Reads like a history professor

This would have benefitted greatly from the services of a professional narrator. The author’s own reading might have added authority but, alas, he plods along with little expressive enthusiasm. The story itself treats the huge volume of facts as all of equal importance.

NO Se Habla Espanol or Ingles

On the plus side, a descriptive window into the "Time of Discovery". I learned a great deal about Magellan and his fated voyage. If you multi-task and listen to this while on the elliptical or treadmill, you will not feel so ripped off. As a student of romance languages, I was so offended with the author's constant hacked up Spanish and Portugues... but even English was a challenge for him ... "sea-men" which came out like "semen", it was so annoying! The author overstepped in attempting to narrate. Hello?? Are there any audio editors out there???

Magellan's Trip

This is a fascinating story and well told. it answered a number of questions for me.

Great story! Reader acquired taste

This was a fantastic book that kept me riveted and several times had me parked in my driveway finishing a chapter at the end of a long day. I did not like the narrator at the beginning, especially his pronunciation of Spanish and Portuguese names and words. By the end though, after him and I going through so many harrowing adventures together, we formed a bond and now I enjoy his voice. Great book!

Written for young teens, read to young children

First the narrator absolutely is terrible.
Second this is an abridged book. It takes a very cursory view of Magellan's voyage and makes it even more cursory. The narrator does not even bother attempting to pronounce words correctly. Not just Portuguese in Spanish words does he mispronounce, but he mispronounces basic English words.
The narration is choppy and distorted. The book seems to leave more questions asked than answered. I had to return it before I was done because it was unlistenable.

Totally Fascinating

The fact there is shockingly little written in depth about Magellan would in itself make it worthy for any history buff to listen to this reading. Even better, the book is very well written and the narrator is top notch. Most likely upon listening to this account, you will realize how much of a serious omission you have had in your understanding of essential world history. Truly fascinating...

Super

I was not aware of this history. We learned something very different whilst in school.