The Women Who Went Round the World

The astonishing women who broke boundaries and set records by becoming the first to travel right around the world

Sally Smith presents the extraordinary stories of the real women pioneers in global circumnavigation; travelling right around the world by various means and for various purposes. This captivating selection of stories includes the incredible tale of Jeanne Baret, a French woman who, in 1740, dressed as a man, travelled by boat to become the first woman ever to voyage right around the world; a journey on a convict supply ship to Port Jackson, that picked up Mutiny on the Bounty survivors on the way back; the dramatic 1889 race around the world by Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland; Annette Meakin’s dark experiences crossing Russia by train in 1900; Harriet Fischer’s drive around the globe in 1909; and the fascinating story of Russia’s Valentina Tereshkova, born into a peasant family, working in a local textile factory, who ended up becoming the first ever woman to circle the world in space. Each of these women achieved a serious record in circumnavigation and deserves to be given her rightful place in history.