Latitude Zero: Tales of the Equator [Paperback]

Gianni Guadalupi (Author), Antony Shugaar (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 2002

Now in paperback, an illustrated history of the wholly imaginary place on the globe: the equator, an entirely human construct that has fascinated and challenged explorers for 3,000 years. The equator—its location not only on the globe but also in the minds and exploits of navigators, travelers, poets, and dreamers since the dawn of civilization—is the magical thread on which the eminent Italian historian Gianni Guadalupi strings some of humankind’s most intriguing lore and most amazing adventures in this original and riveting intellectual history. The mysterious source of the Nile and the enigma of the Congo’s swell, the perils of the Doldrums, and the vicissitudes of El Nino, the quest for the lost Eden and the search for El Dorado, all fall within the compass of Guadalupi’s extraordinary volume. So do the names of Columbus, Magellan, Don Lope de Aguirre, Sinbad the Sailor, Henry Stanley, Charles-Marie de la Condamine, and Dante Alighieri, who placed Purgatory on an island athwart the equator. “A series of historical vignettes ... for the armchair traveler: history rendered as a libretto to the planet’s grand opera.”—Kirkus Reviews “These engagingly written stories are perfect jumping-off points for armchair adventurers or perhaps journey enough for commuting conquistadors.”—Booklist “Filled with stories that are well written and captivating”—Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Several years ago, U.S. fighter pilots testing computer-guided navigation were surprised when the autopilot system flipped their planes as they passed over the Equator and into negative latitude. Of course, it was negative only according to the general belief that "the history of the world has almost always been written from a point of view situated around forty-five degrees latitude [i.e., the Northern Hemisphere]." Guadalupi (coauthor of The Dictionary of Imaginary Places) and Shugaar (translator of Niccolo's Smile) hope to unveil what has fascinated and often frightened explorers as they traveled along the equator, the longest line on Earth. The authors center their histories and themes on three places along Latitude Zero: South America and the Spanish search for mythic El Dorado; Africa and the geographical exploration of the Nile and Congo river systems; the South Pacific and seafaring adventure. Their project is more a revisitation of a worthy subject than a narrative of new discovery. The names, places and histories are familiar (Sir Walter Raleigh and his failed trip to find the city of gold; Stanley and Livingston tromping through the African hinterland; Magellan's incomplete circumnavigation of the globe; the eruption of Krakatoa). More discouraging is their desire to uncover tales of the equator while operating under historically Western European assumptions. (Their insistence on referring to Africa as the "Dark Continent" particularly lacks irony.) Although it doesn't demonstrate rigorous scholarship, this book is nevertheless well written and entertaining a good chronicle of adventure and attempted conquest. Illus.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Guadalupi (The Discovery of the Nile) and Shugaar, who translated Maruzio Viroli's Niccolo's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli, argue that the equator is "the largest manmade object on Earth" and set out to honor this imaginary 24,000-mile line with stories of those who have traveled it, explored it, exploited it, and conquered those living on it. The book is divided into various geographical and historical sections e.g., "Antiquity," "South America," "Africa," and "Asia/Oceania" and concentrates on the last five centuries. The majority of the text focuses on big names in exploration like Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Richard Burton, Henry Morton Stanley, and David Livingston; the adventures of Joseph Conrad and Robert Louis Stevenson are also covered. One fascinating tale involves the Galapagos Islands, a destitute but obsessed Austrian baroness, promiscuity, and a rash of suspicious deaths. Filled with stories that are well written and captivating, this study is recommended for public libraries. Margaret Atwater-Singer, Univ. of Evansville, IN

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (November 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786711183
• ISBN-13: 978-0786711185
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,297,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, November 26, 2001

By 

ilmk "ilmk" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Latitude Zero: Tales of the Equator (Paperback)

A thoroughly enjoyable collection of tales across the equator. Any historical 'travelogue' afficionado should read this. A quick glance at any globe and you might think: "well, there's not much landmass there, so there's bound to be a lot of seafaring tales". Not true. Confessionably, the book is split 'tween Africa, the Amazon and a dip into the Indonesian Archipelago but each story is paced sufficiently to be readable at twenty minutes sittings. Ideal, as I found, for that train journey or even on a beach. Not that it's beach material.
It is written with a faintly humorous tone, doesn't take itself too seriously and comes across more as a group of tales told round a campfire about mysterious lands. Its main result is that it leaves you desiring more, so I'm off to look up more titles by these authors, having piqued my interest...

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read on the Road, July 22, 2002

By 

Daniel Graf "Daniel Graf" (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Latitude Zero: Tales of the Equator (Paperback)

For Latitude Zero, Gianni Guadalupi and Anthony Shugaar have put together a collection of short historical essays recounting the exploration of the equator. The accounts are organized somewhat chronologically. Following a brief introduction to the ancient folklore, the authors tell some entertaining stories of the Spanish conquest in South America and their search for the mythical city of gold, El Dorado. The narrative then jumps to the English exploration of central Africa. Finally, the tales turn to Magellan and his successors' adventures in the East Indies.

The interconnecting theme of these tales, besides the equator, is the humor that can be found in the recurring naive arrogance of the West in its dealings with non-European peoples. The 16th century Conquistadors come off the worst. At least Richard Burton et al. tried to color their exploration of the upper Nile and the Rift Lakes as geographical science.

Guadalupi and Shugaar have produced a well written and interesting light read. The sole short-coming of their volume -- filled with place names -- is the absence of useful maps.

3.0 out of 5 stars Just enought to whet your taste....but nothing more., November 25, 2010

By 

Harold C. Kreitlein "Cruising Sailor" (Pensacola) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Latitude Zero: Tales of the Equator (Hardcover)

A simple, slim volume with just enough historical(?) anecdotes to entertain. Don't look for any real history here; its purely for amusement. Unfortunately, I was put off on the second page of the introduction by a glaring error the editors should have caught. The author mistakenly claims "the equatorial sun stands still, straight overhead" which, of course, is nonsense. The sun passes over the equator only twice a year - Mar 20 (2009) and Sep 22 (2009). Otherwise, it is moving daily either north to the Tropic of Cancer or south to the Tropic of Capricorn due to the earth's 23.5 degree tilt - which is why that wide swath around the earth is called "the Tropics". Gianni compounds his error by claiming it twice more in the book. Naturally, when one encounters such a blatant error at the beginning of book, it casts doubt on the veracity of the remainder. All that aside, I enjoyed it for what it was.