Alejandro Malaspina: Portrait of a Visionary Book

The thirst for knowledge and adventure have always been at the forefront of human imagination. In this chronicle of the life of Alejandro Malaspina, an 18th-century Italian navigator in the service of Spain, John Kendrick takes us on a voyage across the Pacific via the Philippines, New Zealand, the infant British colony at Sydney cove, and the Tonga Islands. Malaspina?s Pacific voyage of 1789 was the last and most important of his career--a five-year scientific and political examination of the Spanish colonies in the Americas and the Philippines. On his return he was commissioned to author a report--and was imprisoned when it was judged seditious. Using Malaspina?s writings, including the journal of his great voyage and his personal letters, Kendrick makes the life of this extraordinary individual available to the English reader.Read More