When, in 1492, an ambitious Genoese merchant named Christopher Columbus embarked on a daring voyage west into unknown waters, in search of a passage to the Indies, European maps of the world still included only Europe, Africa, and Asia. But this would soon change, for the Age of Exploration had begun. Before long, other adventurersVespucci, de Gama, Magellan, Cookwould set sail to claim the riches of the "New World" on behalf of their kings and queens, and in the name of their God. In this eye-opening course, Professor Williams examines this controversial, three-century-long period in world history, profiling the great voyages of discovery and the daring men who led them, and looking at the political climate and advances in nautical and medical technology that made them possible.

Glyndwr Williams is Emeritus Professor of history at Queen Mary, University of London, where he has taught for more than thirty years. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History, and is the author of several acclaimed books about exploration, including The Atlas of North American Exploration: From the Norse Voyages to the Race to the Pole, Voyages of Delusion: The Quest for the Northwest Passage, and Captain Cook: Explorations and Reassessments.