Just as the unknown regions of the world seized the imagination of the great explorers so the exploits of those explorers continue to fascinate readers today. The book captures all the thrill of exploration; its fears dangers & hardships; encounters with hostile landscapes & peoples & the excitement of progress. All areas of the globe are covered & the journeys of explorers both famous & not so famous: Florence Baker in Egypt & Sudan; Mary Kingsley in West Africa; Lewis & Clark across the US; Franklin & Leary at the North Pole & Amundsen & Scott at the South. The book is arranged by region & chronologically within that region. It captures the spirit of each age & explains how explorers through reaching lands unknown to them encountered peoples supporting advanced civilizations of their own. The final chapter examines the legacy of a regions exploration by explaining its political economic & other consequences whether they be the settlement of a continent or the creation of lasting national myths as in Scotts doomed mission to Antarctica.