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Get ready to travel across the world and back into history, to meet some of the world’s greatest explorers in this big fun, fully illustrated reference book. Readers will learn about both famous - and these days sometimes controversial - names, such as Columbus, Magellan and Roald Amundsen, plus little-known ones, from a broad range of cultures and backgrounds. These include Jeanne Bare, the first woman to circumnavigate the Earth (which she did in the 18th century, disguised as a man), and Matthew Henson, an African American explorer who may have been the first person to reach the North Pole in the early 20th century. Individual biographies will also be interspersed with themed spreads that focus on wider topics - such as First Journeys out of Africa, Aboriginal Songlines, the Space Race, the future of human exploration, and much more.