Skilled explorer or overreaching dilettante? Crusading abolitionist or violent murderer? General with the soul of a country on his mind? Or self-centered opportunist only interested in tapping the ...

There was a time, before football and rock'n'roll, when explorers were the A-listers of their day. Death-defying antics and tales of daring made them the stuff of legend: names like Columbus, Raleigh, ...