The library of explorers and exploration

Describes the fifteenth century voyages taken by Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama who furthered his nation's power by expanding trade routes to India.

A biography of Sir Walter Raleigh which examines his early life, his relationship with Queen Elizabeth, his desire to explore the New World, his defeat of the Spanish Armada, his quest for El Dorado, his life as a writer, and more.

A biography of British pirate and explorer Sir Francis Drake, featuring his search for riches in the Americas and his eventual voyage around the world.

Profiles Prince Henry of Portugal, whose support enabled explorers to claim new lands, spread Christianity, and increase trade between Europe and Africa while he, himself, remained close to home.

Describes the life of the Spanish explorer who first came to the New World with Columbus, went on to become governor of Puerto Rico, and later came to Florida looking for the Fountain of Youth.

Examines the facts and theories surrounding the voyages taken to North America by the English explorer John Cabot in the late 1490s.

A brief biography of the seventeenth-century French explorers who were the first Europeans to locate and chart the Mississippi River.

Describes the life and travels of Jacques Cartier, the sixteenth-century French navigator who made three voyages to what is today known as Canada, in search of a northwest passage to China.

Portrays Hernando de Soto as both a pirate and explorer who, while a failure in some ways, had a lasting influence through such actions as introducing pigs to the Americas.

Tells the life story of sixteenth-century Spanish explorer Hern?n Cort?s, chronicling the conquest of the Aztec Empire, and includes a chronology, glossary, and further resource list.