The 27,000-Mile Voyage of Vasco da Gama.

Five years after Christopher Columbus sailed off to find a sea route to the Orient, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama went on the same quest. He returned 27,000 miles later with half his ships gone and two-thirds of his crew dead, but he had found what Columbus had not.

Da Gama brought back tales of marketplaces overflowing with riches, of rulers bejeweled in emeralds and rubies and pearls the size of grapes, of ships and cannons that were no match for those of the Portuguese. Portugal soon would send more ships and more cannons to East Africa and Asia. The rest of Europe would follow.

This epic journey, filled with danger, treachery, sacrifice, cruelty, and acts of extraordinary courage, would change the world forever.




THE READ-ALONG™ MAP
For both the explorer and the reader, the key element of any voyage of discovery is the map. While the explorer can have the map in front of him, the reader usually cannot. There's nothing more frustrating than having to flip back to read a map in the middle of reading a story. For this book, Mikaya Press has designed a Read-Along™ Map. This gatefold page makes it possible to read about an explorer's travels, and follow them on a map at the same time.

Awards
Editor's Choice: Best Books of 2001
Booklist

Best Books of 2001
Book Links

Nonfiction Honor Book, 2001
VOYA

Reviews
"... well researched and written with details that make distant figures and achievements memorable."

Washington Post Book World

"Lavish, earth toned watercolor illustrations… compellingly written... provides a solid introduction to the grand era of Portuguese navigation."

Starred Review, School Library Journal

"The author's thorough research is evident throughout, both in the details she packs into the text as well as in her ability to knit the proceeding into a broad historical context."

Publishers Weekly

"Entertaining and informative… Joan Elizabeth Goodman blends a compelling, dramatic narrative with Tom McNeely's superbly drawn watercolors giving readers age 8 to 18 a memorable and enjoyable 'window in time" to one of the truly outstanding feats in history."

Midwest Book Review

"The story is a fascinating one… intelligently written… full page illustrations which vibrate with life and action…"

Starred Review, Booklist