Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe

Recommended by Michele Lamont, Professor of Sociology and African and African American Studies; Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies

Lamont read “Over the Edge of the World” while on a family hiking trip in the Chilean national park Torres del Paine in Patagonia. The book chronicles the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan as he captains the first ship to sail around the world. During her trip, Lamont flew to Punta Arenas, situated on the Strait of Magellan — an important natural passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The proximity to this historic portion of Magellan’s voyage struck Lamont as a transformative experience. “Finding myself so close to the southmost point of the Americas, this book, together with the trip, transformed my understanding of our human world, and of what ‘global’ means,” she said.