I Was the First: The Incredible True Story of the First Voyage Around the World - Paperback

by Rachel Miller (Translator), Santiago Barber López (Foreword by), Natacha Sanz Caballero (Author)

On August 10, 1519, two young men, Diego and Enrique, set sail in what was called the Armada de Molucca. Composed of five ships and more than 200 crew members under the command of the Portuguese captain Ferdinand Magellan, the armada left the Spanish port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda to undertake a voyage into the unknown: to reach the Spice Islands, the Molucca Islands, by sailing westward.

Three years later, on September 6, 1522, a single ship, struggling to stay afloat, returned to the port of departure. Its emaciated crew of just eighteen survivors under the command of Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano had completed the first circumnavigation of the world. The human cost of the expedition was tremendous, and the profits attained barely covered the exorbitant expenses. However, Diego and Enrique would never know that the voyage initiated by Magellan and completed by Elcano would be considered one of the greatest feats of humankind for generations to come, and a turning point for humanity.

This thoroughly documented novel, with a foreword by Rear Admiral Santiago Barber López, member of the Spanish National Committee for the 500th Anniversary of the First Voyage Around the World, will immerse you in the fascinating story of that voyage, told by two young men who embarked on the expedition with vastly different dreams and disparate circumstances, whose voices will take you through the events of one of the greatest adventures of all time.