The Imaginary Sea Voyage

For centuries, humankind has wondered what is ""out there"" and has embarked on countless voyages to find out. This book traces the history and literature of the imaginary voyage - stories of mariners journeying through uncharted waters to find strange and marvelous sights. Well-told tales of adventurous journeys - The Odyssey, The Aeneid, Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - conjure up images that transcend our mundane landscapes. Through the overlapping spheres of history, geography, cosmography and literary criticism, this book examines the mystique of what lies just over the horizon.