Book description
This introductory study assesses Columbus' life and achievements in the context of the great era of European overseas exploration. A Genoese cartographer, Columbus was convinced that the existence of a Western route to Asia would prove that the world was round. The book traces his attempts to persuade Ferdinand and…
Why read it?
1 author picked Columbus as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I think Felipe Fernández-Armesto is one of the most original and brilliant historians writing in English today, and I love how his erudite, yet witty and engaging writing style is on full display here. He has written several Columbus books, but this remains the most readable.
And—as a historian of Columbus myself—I am impressed by and grateful for Fernández-Armesto’s unwavering commitment to evidence and its rational appraisal. He is not trying to sell some treasured belief or solve some imagined mystery but simply telling a story as objectively but engagingly as possible.
At times, there is a hint of eccentricity…
From Matthew's list on The best books on Christopher Columbus and his world.
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