PACIFIC PASSIONS  The European Struggle for Power in the Great Ocean in the Age of Exploration

Description

The enthralling story of one of the most exciting exciting periods of human discovery: the first 250 years of European exploration of the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific cover one third of the planet but until 1513 no white man even new it existed. Spanish Explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa emerged in a Panamanian mountaintop and beheld a seemingly endless expanse of calm water. Thus began a new age of exploration. The prize that drove nations to explore were the fables Spice Islands. The author covers the many voyages is search of these riches.  Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands, England and France battled to dominate the area. Illustrated. 6 x 9 size.