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Sextant: A Voyage Guided by the Stars and the Men Who Mapped the World’s Oceans (Paperback)
  • Sextant: A Voyage Guided by the Stars and the Men Who Mapped the World’s Oceans (Paperback)
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Sextant: A Voyage Guided by the Stars and the Men Who Mapped the World’s Oceans (Paperback)

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£12.99
Paperback 368 Pages
Published: 04/06/2015
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In the tradition of Dava Sobel's ‘Longitude’ comes sailing expert David Barrie's compelling and dramatic tale of invention and discovery – an eloquent elegy to one of the most important navigational instruments ever created, and the daring mariners who used it to explore, conquer, and map the world.

This is the dramatic story of an instrument that changed history. Built around David Barrie’s own transatlantic passage using the very same navigational tools as Captain Cook, Sextant tells how one of the most vital navigational instruments was invented and used – and why the golden age of celestial navigation has now come to an end. From Cook, Bligh and Vancouver to Bougainville, La Pérouse, Flinders and FitzRoy, Barrie recounts the fortunes of the explorers who risked their lives in charting the Pacific, as well as the intrepid adventures of Slocum, Shackleton and Worsley. A heady mix of history, science and adventure, this elegy to a lost technology is infused with the wonder of discovery and the sublimity of the cosmos.

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780007516582
Number of pages: 368
Weight: 290 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 24 mm


MEDIA REVIEWS

‘As lovingly and painstakingly constructed as the navigators’ one irreplaceable talisman, this exquisite book is a hymn to a now-vanishing feature of maritime life, a finely-chased reminder of just how much we all owe to that one small piece of apparatus, its verniers and lenses kept secure in a mahogany box, closed by a hasp of brass’ Simon Winchester ‘Barrie’s writing is exhilarating and suffused with a sense of adventure. A fascinating read’ Financial Times ‘What gives Sextant its special colour is Barrie’s own experience as a sailor … His book is an elegy for the days before GPS made simultaneous geniuses and idiots of us all … He invites anyone near the sea, and above all on a boat, to turn away from their screens and look around’ Daily Express ‘A bracing historical tale’ The Times ‘An excellent present for anyone even vaguely interested in thestars, or the history of exploration, or sailing small boats overbig oceans, or come to think of it anyone at all. And buy a copyfor yourself while you’re about it’ Marine Quarterly ‘A joy to read … one of the most interesting and enjoyable books I’ve read in years’ Flying Fish, magazine of the Ocean Cruising Club

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“A wonderful book”

I purchased this book at full price as I had been urged by a relative to buy it for my son. My son owns a sextant and has sailed a yacht across the Pacific ocean so that made complete sense. I have never used a... More

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