The Golden Wind is the last of the five classic historicals de Camp wrote (both historically and chronologically).

The novel tells of the early adventures of Eudoxus of Cyzicus and Hippalus in their original voyages from Egypt to India by sea.

Eudoxus was a Greek navigator who is credited with exploring and mapping the Arabian sea for Egyptian ruler Ptolemy VIII, and Hippalus is, according to legend, the captain of Eudoxus' ship during these explorations.

Following the successful exploration of the route to India, Eudoxus decides to break the Egyptian monopoly on trade with India by sailing around Africa, and encounters a myriad of different adventures and misfortunes as their ship attempts to circumnavigate the great continent.