New Worlds: The Great Voyages of Discovery 1400-1600 by Ronald H Fritze (Sutton, £25)

IT is still a fantastic notion that only a few centuries separate total ignorance of the world and today's almost blas familiarity with the geography of the globe.

Thanks to the revolution of air travel over the past 50 years, there is hardly a corner of this planet that has not felt the footprint of Man. No one blinks an eyelid on hearing that a friend, neighbour or colleague is honeymooning in Florida, the Maldives or the Seychelles.

Yet none of this would be so commonplace now had it not been for the first voyages from mainland Europe. They were journeys into the unknown, these first probings of the horizon.

The story of European expansion over the crucial 200-year period of frenetic exploration and colonisation is extensively covered in this well-crafted book. It is a story of danger, courage and rampant exploitation.

The rapidity of this process was the result of the three great powers - England, France and Spain - becoming completely absorbed in the process of domination. Whether in the east or west, this was not so much an arms race, rather competition for trading superiority in the new territories.

The author explains in great detail the factors that brought this about, the motives and political agendas of the countries involved. Within a short time of Columbus reaching the outer islands of what would become known as the Caribbean, Cortes and Pizarro had reduced entire native empires to ashes.

Magellan may have circumnavigated the globe, but Sir Francis Drake was not that far behind... and while the French were claiming the virgin lands of Louisiana, Sebastian Cabot was setting sail from Bristol bound for the aptly-named Newfoundland.

This is a book in which terror, courage, endurance and faith all compete for attention. There are outrages committed by invader and invaded alike, hideous cruelties as well as feats of unimaginable fortitude.

Ronald Fritze has indeed done a fine job in placing a time of great change in its unique historical context. This book is definitely one for those who are curious about an era of turmoil and upheaval during which the future of the human race was to change beyond recognition.

John Phillpott