Four hundred years ago Willem Barents set sail with two ships for the north via the Pole. Apart from this expedition, numerous other attempts were made by Dutch and Flemish mariners to find a northern trade route to China and Cathay. In this book, Marijke Spies relates the story of Olivier Brunel, the Dutch explorer, who in the sixteenth century, even before Barents and Heemskerk, sought a northern trade route. The numerous maps and illustrations in the book show the geographic knowledge that was available to Olivier Brunel when he set course in 1584 for the north of Russia.