Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights:#1 In 1594, William Barents prepared to sail off the edge of the known world. He would leave in the spring for distant Nova Zembla, whose shores stretched hundreds of miles above the Russian mainland. He intended to follow its coastline north as far as he could go.#2 While Barents had gotten an education, he was still very much a merchant sailor who was hired to explore commercial areas. He was far from famous, and his country’s future wasn’t yet written.#3 The Dutch rebellion was the first modern revolution against a monarch. It was also the first to reject monarchy itself. The Dutch gained independence, and their land was split in half due to the conflict.#4 In 1594, William Barents set out to prove that a northern passage existed, between the Arctic and far Eastern empires. He set out in a time of cataclysmic change, with upheaval reshaping every corner of Dutch life.