The first four volumes of this highly acclaimed Encyclopedia dealt almost exclusively with voyages and travels of indisputable historical reality. In this intriguing final volume the author turns his attention to the curious but compelling alternative literature of exploration; to imaginary, apocryphal and utopian journeys in fabulous lands; and to the abundance of invented, plagiarized and spoof narratives, many of which were accepted in their time as wholly credible but were nothing more than flights of the imagination, blatant deceptions, or monologues of doubtful authenticity.
