Age of Exploration

Great Ages of Man

by John R. Hale

Great Ages of Man: A History of the World's Cultures.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical, Reference, World History

192 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a really good job documenting the European explorers of the 1400s to the 1600s. The pictures are pretty and it tackles a lot of explorers not as commonly known.

[Jonathan Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like I knew a lot of this stuff before, but there were quite a few new things for me.
Never realized that Dias never got further than Mossel Bay. And that there were so many Arabian trading ports on the East Coast of Africa - besides Zanzibar anyway.
Never knew that Magellan actually died before completing his round-the-world trip.
Also. So much scurvy.

[James Violand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another exceptional volume in the Time/Life series, Great Ages of Man.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The late British-born Historian John R. Hale’s 1966 edition of the book, Age of Exploration, is mainly concerned with the era of the European exploration of the Americas, Coastal Africa, Coastal Asia, the North Pole, Australia, and Pacific Islands, and other areas starting with the reign of Prince Henry of Navigator of Portugal in the early 1400s CE. The book ends with the voyages of Captain James Cook of Great Britain in the late 1700s. Most of the book is focused on the explorations during the European Renaissance from the 1400s until the early 1600s. The book is for the series of Time-Life Books’ Great Ages of Man. Hale was a scholar of the Renaissance era in both Italy and Europe. Hale translated the writings of the Renaissance political theorist, Niccolò Machiavelli, into English. Hale’s book is dated, but it is still worth reading if one is interested in the historiography of the history of the Age of Exploration, especially if one is interested in figures such as Christopher Columbus who was viewed by Renaissance scholars such as Hale in 1966. The book, Age of Exploration, is readable. The book has a beautiful layout, and each chapter is followed by a photo essay. At the end of the book, there is a Timeline. Even though it was dated I did not regret spending time reading the book, Age of Exploration.