Great mysteries of the oceans. The Mediterranean Sea. The polar seas. The Buccaneer Sea.

The history of the exploration and conquest of the vast expanses of the World Ocean is a story of courage, enterprise, and perseverance. At the heart of the grand design of the popular French writer Georges Blond is Man and the Sea in their diverse, complex, almost mystical relationships. All the great navigators were, in a sense, captives of the sea, which forever conquered their hearts: no matter how terrible the deprivations of the sea voyage, they each time again rushed towards the formidable element, towards new dangers and discoveries. Columbus, Magellan, Heyerdahl - all of them, like the ancient Vikings or Phoenicians before them, were obsessed with the sea, dreaming of new maritime routes and unknown lands. The maritime epic of Georges Blond tells the story of the great conquerors of the world ocean. This edition includes fascinating stories about the history of human exploration of the Mediterranean Sea and the polar seas, as well as about the history of piracy. The book is illustrated with reproductions of paintings, engravings, maps, photographs - historical images somehow related to the captivating narratives of Georges Blond, and is also supplemented with extensive reference material, including maps, dictionaries of names, maritime terms, and names of ships and aircraft.