Because the world today seems small to us, it is hard to imagine that man once knew nothing outside his own narrow island or little village.

In a straightforward, graphic way, Roger Duvoisin tells the true and exciting story of these early men, showing who they were and why and how they added to the map of the world.

Beginning with the early traders, hundreds of years before Christ, he traces the opening up of the world through the discoveries of Magellan. The Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Alexander, Darius, Genghis Kahn, Marco Polo strut through the pages of this delightful book as full-blooded living characters. History comes alive; man's achievements attain new importance as the map unrolls.

The striking illustrations are not supplementary to the text but are part of this fascinating tale.

From the dust jacket