HarperCollins, 2003
History is a difficult genre, if one wishes to write books that are compelling to a general readership. A dry recitation of facts may be true, but is rarely interesting to the nonspecialist; conversely, in attempting to bring the material to life, it must be tempting to attribute thoughts or even words to long-dead people who can no longer complain. Laurence Bergreen's Over the Edge of the World, an engaging account of Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe, successfully skirts this problem: Bergreen draws the early sixteenth century with so much seethingly lifelike detail that the reader is drawn into the story even as Magellan himself remains something of an enigma.
Bergreen's writing is beautiful, especially as he describes the world that necessitated such risky adventures. Bergreen explains and justifies both the political and economic context of the mission, describing the economic importance of the spice trade in Europe: a small sack of spices brought back by a sailor was worth enough money to buy a house, and to provide financial security.
History is a difficult genre, if one wishes to write books that are compelling to a general readership. A dry recitation of facts may be true, but is rarely interesting to the nonspecialist; conversely, in attempting to bring the material to life, it must be tempting to attribute thoughts or even words to long-dead people who can no longer complain. Laurence Bergreen's Over the Edge of the World, an engaging account of Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe, successfully skirts this problem: Bergreen draws the early sixteenth century with so much seethingly lifelike detail that the reader is drawn into the story even as Magellan himself remains something of an enigma.
Bergreen's writing is beautiful, especially as he describes the world that necessitated such risky adventures. Bergreen explains and justifies both the political and economic context of the mission, describing the economic importance of the spice trade in Europe: a small sack of spices brought back by a sailor was worth enough money to buy a house, and to provide financial security.
It is no wonder, in this context, that Europe's kings and their backers would finance perilous missions across the globe in pursuit of holds full of cloves, nutmeg, and black pepper-missions that would seem foolhardy and misguided without the context that this book provides.
The natural world's beauty and savagery is described with equal precision and to equal effect. The description of the glaciers in the Strait of Magellan is perhaps the most beautiful passage in the book:
Consisting of packed snow and ice, the glaciers never rested; they cracked, they groaned, they roared, and they threatened to decompose and tumble onto the beaches and water below. Their crystalline towers leaned out over the water in irregular columns, like rotting teeth in a decaying jaw. They inclined ever more precariously over the placid water until one column after another, warmed by the sun and buffeted by the wind, calved and collapsed amid a cloud of icy dust with a shattering report followed by a drumlike roll of thunder, low and resonant, announcing destruction.
The natural world's beauty and savagery is described with equal precision and to equal effect. The description of the glaciers in the Strait of Magellan is perhaps the most beautiful passage in the book:
Consisting of packed snow and ice, the glaciers never rested; they cracked, they groaned, they roared, and they threatened to decompose and tumble onto the beaches and water below. Their crystalline towers leaned out over the water in irregular columns, like rotting teeth in a decaying jaw. They inclined ever more precariously over the placid water until one column after another, warmed by the sun and buffeted by the wind, calved and collapsed amid a cloud of icy dust with a shattering report followed by a drumlike roll of thunder, low and resonant, announcing destruction.
To everyone's surprise, the glaciers were neither white nor grey, but a light, almost iridescent blue that in the crevasses and seams darkened to a deep azure. The countless chunks of ice broken off from the glaciers, some as large as a whale, others as small as a penguin, had the same enigmatic bluish cast as they bobbed past the ships: an armada of sculptured ice drifting towards a mysterious location. (p. 180)
The passages involving Magellan himself and the actions of his crew are just as carefully written, but far less three-dimensional, owing to Bergreen's justifiable caution and restraint. That said, the reports of intrigue, treachery, and battles all remain readable and engaging-it is only by comparison to the beautifully-written background material that they suffer. The tensions between the Portuguese captain and his Spanish underlings on the Spanish expedition, the eventual mutiny of three of his five ships and his cunning recovery of his entire armada, and Magellan's ill-advised crusades in the Philippines that cost him his life, are all compelling and very clearly written.
The passages involving Magellan himself and the actions of his crew are just as carefully written, but far less three-dimensional, owing to Bergreen's justifiable caution and restraint. That said, the reports of intrigue, treachery, and battles all remain readable and engaging-it is only by comparison to the beautifully-written background material that they suffer. The tensions between the Portuguese captain and his Spanish underlings on the Spanish expedition, the eventual mutiny of three of his five ships and his cunning recovery of his entire armada, and Magellan's ill-advised crusades in the Philippines that cost him his life, are all compelling and very clearly written.
Over the Edge of the World occupies a middle ground between popular and academic histories: it is sourced with some care, but not very extensively. There are no footnotes in the text, and there are quite a number of digressions to satisfy the curiosity of the general reader-the above-quoted passage regarding the glaciers is followed by both Magellan's theory about why the glaciers appeared blue and the scientific explanation for their strange and beautiful color. Bergreen uses a number of other histories as sources, but relies mostly on primary sources, which brings a welcome immediacy to the text. Bergreen's interpretations are largely his own, and are for the most part carefully worked-out in full view of the reader.
Two minor quibbles: Each chapter begins with a verse from Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, surely one of the great narrative poems of an ocean voyage, but with only marginal relevance to the text. The parallels are acceptable, but for the most part not cleverly-enough exploited, nor does the poem provide additional scaffolding for Magellan's story. Also, the color plates in the middle of the book are useful and well-captioned, but arranged in no particularly useful order.
Two minor quibbles: Each chapter begins with a verse from Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, surely one of the great narrative poems of an ocean voyage, but with only marginal relevance to the text. The parallels are acceptable, but for the most part not cleverly-enough exploited, nor does the poem provide additional scaffolding for Magellan's story. Also, the color plates in the middle of the book are useful and well-captioned, but arranged in no particularly useful order.
