A comprehensive survey of the lives, expeditions, and significant contributions of some 800 explorers from around the world, including the renowned (e.g. Roald Amundsen, Daniel Boone, Columbus, Magellan, and Marco Polo) and the lesser known but no less interesting (e.g. Edward Eyre, British sheep farmer who completed the first east-to-west crossing of Australia; and Freydis, Norse daughter of Eric the Red who led an expedition to Vinland). Includes some 120 bandw illustrations and period maps, 15 original maps, an appendix of explorers by region, and a bibliography. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Gr 6 Up-An alphabetical listing of over 800 names, with black-and-white period maps, illustrations, and photographs of the more well-known discoverers. Each entry begins with a list of dates and voyages. The prose is easy to read and the information is chronologically organized within each article. The famous are joined by the lesser known: Toi-Kai-Rakan, leader of the Polynesian settlement in New Zealand is profiled, as is Columbus, although the latter is given many more pages. Browsers will find John James Audubon, Kit Carson, Sacajawea, and Brigham Young, but not Neil Armstrong. The authors have dropped the word ``discovery'' as inappropriate to inhabited lands. They have made a serious effort to include women, explorers of color, and indigenous guides. An appendix divides the names by 15 regions of exploration and lists cartographers, geographers, and sponsors who are highlighted in this volume. Another appendix contains undated modern maps that cannot, of course, reflect up-to-the-moment political changes. For assignments given by the country of origin, or needing timelines, or routes, Neil Grant's Great Atlas of Discovery (Knopf, 1992) may be used in tandem with this book.-Bonnie Farrier, NYPLCopyright 1993 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

The Columbian quincentenary has stimulated the examination of world exploration. This volume helps the reader identify more than 800 figures throughout history. The term explorer is used very broadly: numerous artists and writers, such as Audubon and T. E. Lawrence, are listed along with more traditional figures, such as Magellan. No specific criteria for inclusion are mentioned.<^P>Entries are in A-Z order by name and vary in length from a couple sentences to several pages. A tag at the beginning of the entry characterizes the person; for instance, Kit Carson is described as an "American frontiersman and guide in the West." The dates of the person's important trips are listed before the essay that describes his or her life and significant achievements. Figures are usually presented in a positive light, and controversial issues are few. Cross-references are used for variant forms of names, and names within entries printed in small capital letters indicate a separate entry for that person. About 100 black-and-white reproductions of prints and photographs are scattered throughout the book.<^P>In an appendix, the explorers are listed by the geographic area they explored. This partially makes up for the lack of an index. However, readers looking for the explorer of a specific country will have to look up all the names listed under the region in which that country is located. Line drawings of the continents and present-day countries make up another appendix. The routes of important explorations are not shown on these maps, so their value is questionable. An extensive bibliography arranged by geographic area concludes the book.<^P>This volume resembles Macmillan's World Explorers and Discoverers [RBB Je 1 92]. That volume uses a narrower definition of the term explorer and has only 300 entries, but they are longer and deal more with the controversial nature of exploration. It also includes some portraits and extensive indexes. Both books have surprising omissions: Macmillan doesn't include Mercator, and Facts On File omits Osa and Martin Johnson. Most of the extra coverage in the Facts On File book is of Western pioneers, such as Marcus Whitman and Brigham Young, who usually aren't thought of as explorers.<^P>Libraries needing comprehensive coverage of this topic will want both these books; either one is satisfactory for most libraries, though the Macmillan book provides more depth of coverage. (Reviewed Oct. 15, 1992) From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Libraries will have to pick and choose among the current flood of books on exploration and discovery. Both books reviewed here set out to cover world exploration through the early years of the 20th century. Both have excellent, though somewhat differently organized bibliographies. Beyond that their purposes diverge. The editorial team for World Explorers and Discoverers opted for selectivity, with more extensive reports on the 313 explorers included. Waldman and Wexler chose to be more inclusive (more than 800 entries) resulting in somewhat shorter entries. They have also included more names associated with land exploration, notably in North America, though the same is true for Australia, New Zealand, and Africa. Part of the reason for this divergence may arise from differing interpretations of ^D["exploration^D]" and ^D["discovery,^D]" with the former receiving more emphasis in Waldman and the latter in Bohlander. The respective styles lean towards popular and scholarly, although the content in both cases is well researched. Unless there is a very great interest in exploration, libraries will not need both. The decision should be based on need and local readership. Bohlander offers more information on a select number of explorers, and is more likely to be useful to all levels of users, while Waldman has more extensive coverage and more North American information, and is more likely to appeal to the reader in search of quick information. General; undergraduate. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.