Daring French Explorations

Daring French Explorations is an exceptional homage to adventure. Intrepid French mariners-including legendary explorers Lapérouse, Bougainville, and Dumont d'Urville, and unsung sailors La Barbinais, Pagès, and Roquefeuil-embark readers on sixteen voyages around the world from 1714 to 1854. A selection of firsthand accounts culled from their maritime travelogues recounts the trials and tribulations the explorers encountered as they charted new routes to remote territories. Their unfiltered observations on wide-ranging themes-from geopolitics and commerce to climate change and global cultures-resonate with contemporary issues. This handsome volume-featuring many previously unpublished illustrations, engravings, and maps-traces their extraordinary scientific, diplomatic, or commercial expeditions, which significantly marked the history of world exploration. Driven by a spirit of adventure and a passion for expeditions, inveterate collector Hubert Sagnières has drawn from his extensive library to curate this unprecedented introduction to the glory days of French naval history. Award-winning author Edward Duyker is a fellow at the Australian Academy of the Humanities.