What must it have been like to be the first to circumnavigate the globe or traverse America from shore to shore? What political, social and financial factors of the day encouraged exploration? What personal dreams and desires drove these fearless men to search the vast unknown waters and lands, to tempt danger time and time again, all in the name of discovery? In Great Explorations, acclaimed authors including recent Laura Ingalls Wilder Award winner Milton Meltzer guide us through the adventures of the indomitable explorers who knew first-hand the joys and sorrows of pioneering.