This edition of the historian, geographer and writer Nikolai Konstantinovich Lebedev (1879-1934) is devoted to the history of geographical discoveries. In a fascinating way, the author talks about the centuries-old process of "conquering the Earth," which resulted in modern geographical knowledge. Most of the book was written in France and Belgium using materials on the history of geography and travel, located in the National Library of France and at the Elise Reclus Geographical Institute in Brussels. Volume 1 of the publication included a description of geographical discoveries in antiquity and in the Middle Ages.