About the book: 2009 / This book is a kind of encyclopedia and at the same time an interesting story about important sea and land expeditions that played a huge role in the development of geographical knowledge humanity in the first period of the Great Geographical Discoveries (late 15th – mid 16th centuries). The work tells about the voyages of Columbus and his “rivals”, about the contribution of the Portuguese to the discovery of America and the sea route to India, about Magellan’s first circumnavigation of the world. The reader will learn a lot of interesting things about the achievements of the Spanish conquistadors on both continents of America, about the French discoverers of North America, about the discoveries of the Spaniards in Oceania.