Sailing Alone Around the World

In 1895, a veteran sea captain named Joshua Slocum set out from Boston in a small sloop called the Spray. He had no crew, no sponsor, and no modern navigation equipment. Three years later he returned, having become the first person to sail alone around the world. Sailing Alone Around the World is his own account of that voyage, written with dry humor and a sailor's plainspoken wisdom.

The book takes readers across the Atlantic, through the Strait of Magellan, and into the Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans. Slocum describes storms and calms, the routines of cooking and sleeping at sea, and his encounters with people on remote islands and in busy ports. He also reflects on the vanishing age of sail and the skills that were passing with it.

This edition is for anyone who loves adventure, maritime history, or true stories of endurance. It will appeal to sailors, armchair travelers, and readers who enjoy firsthand accounts of a world before radio and GPS. The complete text is presented here, along with a new introduction, a guide to key ideas, a summary, themes, a glossary of nautical terms, and discussion questions for book clubs and students.