What a wonderful idea, to track Odysseus in his fabled return to Penelope. As imaginative as "O Brother, where Art Thou?" Beautiful, and very informative about the cilization that gave rise to the Odyssey, too.

I was intrigued enough by the subtitle of this book to purchase it and give it a read. Long ago I thoroughly enjoyed Thor Heyerdahl's books, and having just finished "The Nautical Chart" by Perez-Reverte, I was looking forward to an interesting read. But I found this book only a short snack, and not a satisfying meal.

What do I wish had been included? More details of the author's own adventures, and how they influenced his thinking and speculation on the modern day locations of ancient sites visited by seafarers. Fewer details from the stories of Jason and the Argonauts and Odysseus, and more details on the Muslims and their explorations.

I was also not convinced that the mythologies surrounding Jason and Odysseus might have been derived from actual voyages to actual locations. A more scholarly approach, with less speculation, would have carried me further.

In all, the book was too short to accomplish what could have been a very good tale.

The author takes ancient texts, religions, and stories and turns them into factual accounts of the sea-faring adventures of Greeks, Polynesians, Muslims, and Norsemen. Among the four groups, most of the world was explored in ancient times. The observations are based on the author's real-life experiences of retracing these routes, often by sea and otherwise by air. The book succinctly captures enormous amounts of perspective in just a few pages and with many stunning illustrations. I have read no book that is its equal for making the ancient world real to us today.

"At sea there are no atheists . . . ." Ambassador Obregon, who is now deceased, looks at religious beliefs for clues about the voyages. Ancient peoples often calculated their locations by where they were compared to the constellations overhead. They saw the gods in these constellations, which made them doubly meaningful.

He goes on to show the prevailing winds in the major parts of the world. Since much travel was by sail, these winds had a heavy influence on what routes were chosen.

From there, he draws on whatever available evidence there is to answer questions like:

How did the Argonauts get home?

Where did Homer write the Odyssey?

Are the 'Indians' of South America descendants of the Polynesians?

Although the answers can be considered to be no more than hypotheses, they represent ideas that certainly help rule out some of the alternative explanations. If you are like me, it greatly adds to your appreciation of these ancient stories and peoples to see where they may have gone on a map, and to learn what the practical problems were that they probably encountered on these trips. I would otherwise not have realized that the Danube could be traversed by heavy boat with minimal portages.

The hypothesis about the Polynesians is especially interesting. Since they were relying on sail for much of their travel, he suggests that they may have waited for winds to blow that countered the usual direction of the trades. This meant reducing the risk of going into an ocean of unknown length, because when the trade winds did return they would push one safely home.

His perspective on all of this in the epilogue is quite interesting. "Between [the Greeks and the Polynesians] . . ., they explored more than half [the earth's'] circumference, yet they never met." "The Muslims . . . never ventured into the [Atlantic or Pacific]." But these travels were important, because they laid the foundation for the rediscovery of ancient knowledge that became the Renaissance.

The book is filled with little tidbits that would make a whole book for any other author. I particularly loved his explanation of how Eratosthenes of Syene (today's Aswan) came close to correctly calculating the earth's circumference in ancient times by measuring the length of a shadow in Alexandria to calculate its angle as compared to no shadow in Syene on the same day. How many of today's trigonometry or geometry students would conceive of this clever method?

I also encourage you to read this book for the purpose of thinking about how multidisciplinary perspectives can advance knowledge in ways that a narrower focus cannot. I would love to see this kind of thinking applied to many other issues about ancient times, such as how the pyramids were built.

I encourage you to do your own amateur sleuthing. Take something that seems unusual. What set of facts could explain it? In that way, you will strengthen your deductive powers.

Look closely, think hard, and fit the pieces together carefully . . . like reconstructing a broken pottery artifact!