North American Exploration

Book excerpt: A comprehensive, highly readable reference This is an authoritative, one-stop resource for essential information on the exploration of North America, from alleged pre-Columbian explorers to polar expeditions in the twentieth century. Completely up-to-date in content and historical approach, the book is divided into seven sections, each covering a major area of exploration. Vivid, narrative entries bring to life early expeditions (e.g., African and Scandinavian voyages, real and apocryphal), voyages of European explorers, Western expeditions, and explorations of the Arctic. From the Atlantic seaboard to the Appalachians to the Mississippi to the northernmost regions, readers will discover the Native nations, geographical features, private and governmental institutions, and settlements that played a role in the history of exploring the continent. Maps, photos, and sidebars with lively first-person accounts from contemporary diaries, reports, and news accounts round out this thorough examination of the numerous adventures taken around the continent. Michael Golay has published five books on American history, including most recently The Ruined Land. He lives in Exeter, New Hampshire. John Bowman is the Editor of the Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography and numerous other reference works. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.