ebooks Making Slavery History: Abolitionism and the Politics of Memory in Massachusetts by Margot Minardi in History

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We live in an age of globalization on every conceivable level; but globalization has a deeper history than politicians and pundits often allow; and nothing is more significant to its history than exploration. Wherever trade or faith or empire followed; explorers usually led. Their motives were as many-sided and various as their actions; their legacies are contested and mixed. But none can doubt the significance of explorers to the making of the modern world. For as long as human societies have existed; people have felt the urge to venture outside of them; either in search of other societies or in search of new land or adventure. Exploration: A Very Short Introduction surveys this quintessential human impulse; tracing it from pre-history to the present; from east to west around the globe; and from the depths of volcanoes to the expanses of space. Focusing on the theme of exploration as encounter; Stewart Weaver discusses the Polynesians in the Pacific; the Norse in the Atlantic; and other early explorers. He reflects on the Columbian "discovery" of the Americas; James Cook and the place of exploration in the Enlightenment; and Alexander von Humboldt's epochal encounter with tropical South America. The book's final chapters relate exploration to imperial expansion in Africa and Central Asia; assess the meaning of the race to the North and South Poles; and consider the significance of today's efforts in space and deep sea exploration.But what accounts for this urge? Through this brief study of the history of exploration; Weaver clearly shows how the impulse to explore is also the foundation of the globalized world we inhabit today. Exploration combines a narration of explorers' daring feats with a wide-lens examination of what it fundamentally means to explore. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts; analysis; perspective; new ideas; and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.