There is no doubt that Mercator was a great geographer. Among his achievements were: the projection bearing his name, the first modern Atlas, and even the naming of North America. He played an important role in the amazing successes and adventures of the Age of Discovery. He truly was an amazing man.Having said this, I found Crane's book to be lacking. I thought that the book was well researched and well grounded, but the delivery was poor. When buying a popular history book, in addition to the facts I expect a gripping story, masterfully told. However, Crane's writing style is dry and while the book is filled with names, dates, facts and figures the story telling is simply not there. Crane often gets bogged down in minute details that are distracting, dry and are simply not important to the story he is trying to tell.In short, this may be a good history book, but it is not a book that I would recommend for the typical reader of POPULAR history.