Magellan

by Stefan Zweig

Overview

The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521) is one of the most famous navigators in history – he was the first man to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and led the first voyage to circumnavigate the globe, although he was killed en route in a battle in the Philippines.
In this biography, Zweig brings to life the Age of Discovery by telling the tale of one of the era’s most daring adventurers. In typically flowing and elegant prose he takes us on a fascinating journey of discovery ourselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9782246802020
Publisher:	Grasset
Publication date:	02/12/2003
Series:	Les Cahiers Rouges
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	698 KB
Language:	French

About the Author

Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) est un des écrivains autrichiens les plus célèbres du XX^e siècle. Il est l’auteur de roman, de nouvelles, d’essais et de biographies qui se sont vendus à des millions d’exemplaires à travers le monde. La plupart de son œuvre a été traduite en français aux éditions Grasset.
 

Editorial Reviews

What did Zweig have that brought him the fanatical devotion of millions of readers, the admiration of Herman Hesse, the invitation to give the eulogy at the funeral of Sigmund Freud? To learn that, we would have to have a biography that illuminated all aspects of his work, that read all of his books, and that challenged, rather than accepted, the apparent modesty of his statements about his life and work.” – Benjamin Moser, Bookforum

Zweig’s readability made him one of the most popular writers of the early twentieth century all over the world, with translations into thirty languages. His lives of Mary Stuart and Marie Antoinette were international bestsellers." - Julie Kavanagh, The Economist Intelligent Life

'Zweig’s accumulated historical and cultural studies, whether in essay or monograph form, remain a body of achievement almost too impressive to take in... Full-sized books on Marie-Antoinette, Mary Stuart, and Magellan were international best sellers." - Clive James, Cultural Amnesia

'Stefan Zweig cherished the everyday imperfections and frustrated aspirations of the men and women he analysed with such affection and understanding." - Paul Bailey, Times Literary Supplement

"To read Zweig is to be in the presence of a properly mature writer, for all that his characters are often in the grip of highly inappropriate desires. (...) These are unforgettable stories, beautifully translated. Anthea Bell is a first-rate translator; she brings out the humour as well as the anguish that make Zweig's work so sympathetically acute." – Nicholas Lezard, Guardian

"Touching and delightful. Those adjectives are not meant as faint praise. Zweig may be especially appealing now because rather than being a progenitor of big ideas, he was a serious entertainer, and an ardent and careful observer of habits, foibles, passions and mistakes." — A.O. Scott, The New York Times 

From the Publisher