Laurence Bergreen's books include Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu and Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe. In 2007 he named a five best list of books on exploration for the Wall Street Journal.
One title on the list:White Gold
by Giles Milton
Every so often, it is tonic to read an honest-to-Pete, can-you-believe-this historical account of