太平洋是世界上最浩瀚、辽阔的大洋，它给予人类的不仅是湛蓝的、深不可测的景观或者具有摧毁性威力的风暴，而且还有无数宝藏和资源。房龙以其深厚的学养和语言功底，将几百年来航海家们的伟大功绩娓娓道来，告诉我们太平洋的一个又一个奥秘是怎样被发现的，不但充满了绮丽的异国情调，而且蕴涵着丰富的人生哲理。

本书中，作者以新的视野讲述了发现太平洋的历史过程：从巴拿马地峡到静静的达连山，从波利尼西亚人对太平洋最早发现到麦哲伦等人的航海之旅，从新大陆探险的狂热到由此引发的造成数万欧洲人破产的大骗局，从复活节岛上的奇迹到《鲁滨逊漂流记》主人公原型的真实生活……。简洁优美的文字，再配上房龙亲手绘制的插图，将给你的阅读带来无穷乐趣。

本书为英文原版。

VAN LOON'S GEOGRAPHY

FOREWORD

JUST A MOMENT BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER WHILE I TELL

  YOU HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

1 AND THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE WORLD

  WE LIVE IN

2 A DEFINITION OF THE WORD GEOGRAPHY AND HOW I SHALL

  APPLY IT IN THE PRESENT VOLUME

3 OUR PLANET: ITS HABITS, CUSTOMS AND MANNERS

4 MAPS. A VERY BRIEF CHAPTER UPON A VERY BIG AND

  FASCINATING SUBJECT. TOGETHER WITH A FEW OBSERVATIONS

  ON THE WAY PEOPLE SLOWLY LEARNED HOW TO FIND THEIR

  WAY ON THIS PLANET OF OURS

5 THE SEASONS AND HOW THEY HAPPEN

6 CONCERNING THE LITTLE SPOTS OF DRY LAND ON THIS

  PLANET AND WHY SOME OF THEM ARE CALLED

  CONTINENTS WHILE OTHERS ARE NOT

7 OF THE DISCOVERY OF EUROPE AND THE SORT OF PEOPLE

  WHO LIVE IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD

8 GREECE, THE ROCKY PROMONTORY OF THE EASTERN

  MEDITERRANEAN WHICH ACTED AS THE CONNECTING

  LINK BETWEEN THE OLD ASIA AND THE NEW EUROPE

9 ITALY, THE COUNTRY WHICH DUE TO ITS GEOGRAPHICAL

  SITUATION COULD PLAY THE ROLE OF A SEA-POWER

  OR A LAND-POWER, AS THE OCCASION DEMANDED

10 SPAIN, WHERE AFRICA AND EUROPE CLASHED

11 FRANCE, THE COUNTRY THAT HAS EVERYTHING IT WANTS

12 BELGIUM, A COUNTRY CREATED BY SCRAPS OF PAPER AND

  RICH IN EVERYTHING EXCEPT INTERNAL HARMONY

13 LUXEMBURG, THE HISTORICAL CURIOSITY

14 SWITZERLAND, THE COUNTRY OF HIGH MOUNTAINS,

  EXCELLENT SCHOOLS AND A UNIFIED PEOPLE

  WHO SPEAK FOUR DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

15 GERMANY, THE NATION THAT WAS FOUNDED TOO LATE

16 AUSTRIA, THE COUNTRY THAT NOBODY APPRECIATED

  UNTIL IT NO LONGER EXISTED

17 DENMARK, AN OBJECT LESSON IN CERTAIN ADVANTAGES

  OF SMALL COUNTRIES OVER LARGE ONES

18 ICELAND, AN INTERESTING POLITICAL LABORATORY

  IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN

19 THE SCANDINAVIAN PENINSULA,  THE TERRITORY OCCUPIED

  BY THE KINGDOMS OF SWEDEN AND NORWAY

20 THE NETHERLANDS, THE SWAMP ON THE BANKS OF THE

  NORTH SEA THAT BECAME AN EMPIRE

21 GREAT BRITAIN, AN ISLAND OFF THE DUTCH COAST

  WHICH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HAPPINESS OF

  FULLY ONE-QUARTER OF THE HUMAN RACE

22 RUSSIA,  THE COUNTRY WHICH WAS PREVENTED BY

  ITS GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION FROM EVER FINDING

  OUT WHETHER IT WAS PART OF EUROPE OR OF ASIA

23 POLAND, THE COUNTRY THAT HAD ALWAYS SUFFERED

  FROM BEING A CORRIDOR AND THEREFORE NOW HAS

  A CORRIDOR OF ITS OWN

24 CZECHOSLOVAKIA, A PRODUCT OF THE TREATY OF

  VERSAILLES

25 YUGOSLAVIA, ANOTHER PRODUCT OF THE TREATY OF

  VERSAILLES

26 BULGARIA, THE SOUNDEST OF ALL BALKAN COUNTRIES,

  WHOSE BUTTERFLY-COLLECTING KING BET ON THE WRONG

  HORSE DURING THE GREAT WAR AND SUFFERED THE

  CONSEQUENCES

27 ROMANIA, A COUNTRY WHICH HAS OIL AND A ROYAL

  FAMILY

28 HUNGARY, OR WHAT REMAINS OF IT

29 FINLAND, ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF WHAT HARD WORK

  AND INTELLIGENCE CAN ACHIEVE AMID HOSTILE

  NATURAL SURROUNDINGS

30 THE DISCOVERY OF ASIA

31 WHAT ASIA HAS MEANT TO THE REST OF THE WORLD

32 THE CENTRAL ASIATIC HIGHLANDS

33 THE GREAT WESTERN PLATEAU OF ASIA

34 ARABIA -OR WHEN IS A PART OF ASIA NOT A PART OF ASIA

35 INDIA, WHERE NATURE AND MAN ARE ENGAGED

  IN MASS-PRODUCTION

36 BURMA, SIAM, ANAM AND MALACCA, WHICH OCCUPY

  THE OTHER GREAT SOUTHERN PENINSULA OF ASIA

37 THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA, THE GREAT PENINSULA OF EASTERN，ASIA

38 KOREA, MONGOLIA

39 THE JAPANESE EMPIRE

40 THE PHILIPPINES, AN OLD ADMINISTRATIVE PART OF MEXICO

41 THE DUTCH EAST INDIES, THE TAIL THAT WAGS THE DOG

42 AUSTRALIA, THE STEP-CHILD OF NATURE

43 NEW ZEALAND

44 THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC WHERE PEOPLE NEITHER

  TOILED NOR SPUN BUT LIVED JUST THE SAME

45 AFRICA, THE CONTINENT OF CONTRADICTIONS AND

  CONTRASTS

46 AMERICA, THE MOST FORTUNATE OF ALL

47 A NEW WORLD

THE STORY OF THE PACIFIC

1 THE PANAMA CANAL

2 SILENT ON A BENCH IN DARIEN

3 THE PREHISTORIC PACIFIC

4 MORE GUESSWORK

5 THE EARLIEST HISTORY OF POLYNESIA

6 THE SECOND DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC

7 THE QUEST OF THE GREAT UNKNOWN CONTINENT OF THE SOUTH

8 ABEL TASMAN PUTS NEW HOLLAND ON THE MAP

9 JACOB ROGGEVEEN

10 CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, R.N.