Sailing Alone Around the World: Voyage of the Liberdade

Sailing Alone Around the World - Voyage of the Liberdade Author: Joshua Slocum Collier Books, copyright 1958 Paperback 4.1 x 7 inches, 382 pages In April 1895, at the age of fifty one, Joshua Slocum departed Boston in his thirty six foot sloop Spray, a derelict boat he had rebuilt himself. Three years and 46000 miles later he returned, having accomplished one of the greatest feats in maritime history- to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe single handedly. To crown his achievement, Slocum wrote this remarkable account of his voyage. An instant best seller, Sailing Alone Around the World is now regared as one of literature's greatest voyage narratives. Despite having only a third-grade education, Slocum was as gifted a writer as he was a shipwright and navigator. In clear and vigorous prose, he paints a vivid, even poetic picture of his voyage, with its many breathtaking sights and harrowing adventures - including skirting the paradisiacal South Sea islands, braving terrifying storms and treacherous coral reefs, and being chased by priates. A portrait also emoerges of the sailor himself, reflections on solitude, and ability to find companions in both his animate and inanimate surroundings.