Scholar, spy, diplomat and supreme propagandist for Elizabethan sea power, Richard Hakluyt s accounts of famed explorers mythologised a nation growing rapidly aware of the size and strangeness of the world – and determined to dominate it.

Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin s 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.

Richard Hakluyt (c 1552-1616). Hakluyt s Voyages and Discoveries is available in Penguin Classics.