The Beagle referred to in «The Voyage of the Beagle» is the HMS Beagle, which set sail from Plymouth Sound on December 27th, 1831 under the command of captain Robert FitzRoy. Also known as Darwin's «Journal of Researches», this book is an exquisite travel memoir as well as a detailed scientific journal in which Darwin makes many observations in the fields of biology, geology, and anthropology; observations that would later lay the groundwork for his theory of evolution by natural selection. A classic scientific work, «The Voyage of the Beagle» provides powerful insight into the observations that led Darwin to his groundbreaking theories.