First published in book form in 1900, this is a sailing memoir by Joshua Slocum about his single-handed global circumnavigation aboard the sloop Spray. Slocum was the first person to sail around the world alone. The book was an immediate success and highly influential in inspiring later travelers. Slocum was a Canadian born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, and a noted writer. He disappeared in November 1909 while aboard his boat, the Spray.