Marco Polo, Ferdinand Magellan, David Livingstone, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong: these are some of the greatest travelers of all time. This book chronicles their stories and many more, describing epic voyages of discovery and exploration, from the extraordinary migrations out of Africa by our earliest ancestors to the latest voyages into space.

In antiquity, we follow Alexander the Great to the Indus and Hannibal across the Alps; in medieval times we trek beside 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 journeys made for scientific purposes, most famously by von Humboldt and Darwin. In modern times, the last inhospitable ends of the earth were reached—including both poles and the world’s highest mountain—and new elements were conquered.

Here are human stories of great triumph and success, but also of terrible hardships, tragedy, and astonishing courage in adversity.

A team of contributors—from distinguished historians and writers to travellers and explorers—bring firsthand experience to the journeys and places they describe. They include Robert Ballard, Barry Cunliffe, Ranulph Fiennes, Pen Hadow, John Hemming, Robin Knox-Johnston, Christopher Ondaatje, and Simon Winchester.