1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

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a great overview

Unputdownable

Excellent insight into the latest research

Fascinating but flawed

Great history, great archeology, great read

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Charles C. Mann
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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1421: The Year China Discovered America

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1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West

ASIN: 1400032059
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Amazon.com

1491 is not so much the story of a year, as of what that year stands for: the long-debated (and often-dismissed) question of what human civilization in the Americas was like before the Europeans crashed the party. The history books most Americans were (and still are) raised on describe the continents before Columbus as a vast, underused territory, sparsely populated by primitives whose cultures would inevitably bow before the advanced technologies of the Europeans. For decades, though, among the archaeologists, anthropologists, paleolinguists, and others whose discoveries Charles C. Mann brings together in 1491, different stories have been emerging. Among the revelations: the first Americans may not have come over the Bering land bridge around 12,000 B.C. but by boat along the Pacific coast 10 or even 20 thousand years earlier; the Americas were a far more urban, more populated, and more technologically advanced region than generally assumed; and the Indians, rather than living in static harmony with nature, radically engineered the landscape across the continents, to the point that even "timeless" natural features like the Amazon rainforest can be seen as products of human intervention.

Mann is well aware that much of the history he relates is necessarily speculative, the product of pot-shard interpretation and precise scientific measurements that often end up being radically revised in later decades. But the most compelling of his eye-opening revisionist stories are among the best-founded: the stories of early American-European contact. To many of those who were there, the earliest encounters felt more like a meeting of equals than one of natural domination. And those who came later and found an emptied landscape that seemed ripe for the taking, Mann argues convincingly, encountered not the natural and unchanging state of the native American, but the evidence of a sudden calamity: the ravages of what was likely the greatest epidemic in human history, the smallpox and other diseases introduced inadvertently by Europeans to a population without immunity, which swept through the Americas faster than the explorers who brought it, and left behind for their discovery a land that held only a shadow of the thriving cultures that it had sustained for centuries before. --Tom Nissley

A 1491 Timeline

Europe and Asia

Dates

The Americas

25000-35000 B.C.

Time of paleo-Indian migration to Americas from Siberia, according to genetic evidence. Groups likely traveled across the Pacific in boats.

Wheat and barley grown from wild ancestors in Sumer.

6000

5000

In what many scientists regard as humankind's first and greatest feat of genetic engineering, Indians in southern Mexico systematically breed maize (corn) from dissimilar ancestor species.

First cities established in Sumer.

4000

3000

The Americas' first urban complex, in coastal Peru, of at least 30 closely packed cities, each centered around large pyramid-like structures

Great Pyramid at Giza

2650

First clear evidence of Olmec use of zero--an invention, widely described as the most important mathematical discovery ever made, which did not occur in Eurasia until about 600 A.D., in India (zero was not introduced to Europe until the 1200s and not widely used until the 1700s)

800-840 A.D.

Sudden collapse of most central Maya cities in the face of severe drought and lengthy war

Vikings briefly establish first European settlements in North America.

1000

Reconstruction of Cahokia, c. 1250 A.D.*

Abrupt rise of Cahokia, near modern St. Louis, the largest city north of the Rio Grande. Population estimates vary from at least 15,000 to 100,000.

Black Death devastates Europe.

1347-1351

1398

Birth of Tlacaélel, the brilliant Mexican strategist behind the Triple Alliance (also known as the Aztec empire), which within decades controls central Mexico, then the most densely settled place on Earth.

The Encounter: Columbus sails from Europe to the Caribbean.

1492

The Encounter: Columbus sails from Europe to the Caribbean.

Syphilis apparently brought to Europe by Columbus's returning crew.

1493

Ferdinand Magellan departs from Spain on around-the-world voyage.

1519

Sixteenth-century Mexica drawing of the effects of smallpox**

Cortes driven from Tenochtitlán, capital of the Triple Alliance, and then gains victory as smallpox, a European disease never before seen in the Americas, kills at least one of three in the empire.

1525-1533

The smallpox epidemic sweeps into Peru, killing as much as half the population of the Inka empire and opening the door to conquest by Spanish forces led by Pizarro.

1617

Huge areas of New England nearly depopulated by epidemic brought by shipwrecked French sailors.

English Pilgrims arrive at Patuxet, an Indian village emptied by disease, and survive on stored Indian food, renaming the village Plymouth.

1620

*Courtesy Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Collinsville, Ill., painting by Michael Hampshire. **Courtesy Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, N.M. (Bernardino de Sahagún, Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España, 1547-77).

Book Description

In this groundbreaking work of science, history, and archaeology, Charles C. Mann radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492.

Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather, there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced the land around them. From the astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, which had running water, immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city, to the Mexican corn that was so carefully created in a specialized breeding process that it has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering, Indians were not living lightly on the land but were landscaping and manipulating their world in ways that we are only now beginning to understand. Challenging and surprising, this a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew.

Customer Reviews:

a great overview.......2007-10-13

This is a great overview of early American cultures, and the various ways in which they shaped their environments. It is not an encyclopedia of Native American cultures, but uses specific examples to support the notion that the original inhabitants of our country have been misunderstood as lacking in initiative and expertise in manipulating the North American landscape... i.e. it debunks the "Eden" myth. Very well written and entertaining as well as informative.

Highly recommended for anyone looking for a more clear view of America before the arrival of Europeans.

Unputdownable.......2007-09-26

I found this book extremely enjoyable. It contains a wealth of knowledge about Native American cultures in N. and S. America; findings that are apparently well-known in academic circles, but which have remained largely unreported and unknown to mainstream audiences. Mr. Mann clearly admires much about the achievements of these pre-Columbus civilizations, and seeks to redress "common" misconceptions that most Westerners have about "primitive, savage" Indian life. I am glad I read this book. I learned a great deal from this book, and was fascinated by the subject matter.

This book is also beautifully written, and makes the subject matter accessible to laypeople. I was expecting it to be readable buy dry, but it was instead a book that just compelled me to keep turning pages. It helps to bring these ancient civilizations to life, talks frankly about the impact of European colonization on these civilizations, and challenges the reader to set aside his/her textbook knowledge and consider seeing Native Americans in an all new light.

Every now and then a book comes out that makes science "sexy." For example, "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond, or "Krakatoa" by Simon Winchester. To me, this is one of those books. It's both revealing and entertaining. "1491" was just a terrific read - thought provoking, compelling, entertaining, well researched. I even read all the appendices, and that's saying something.

I highly recommend this book.

Excellent insight into the latest research.......2007-09-25

Please don't confuse this excellent book with the poorly researched fantasy "1421: The Year China Discovered America." 1491 is an extremely well researched and documented look into the latest archaelogical findings and theories pertaining to life in North and South America prior to Columbus's landing.

Mann does an excellent job explaining the accuracies and flaws of the multitude of theories surrounding this topic. As he simply exposes the debates and doesn't attempt to resolve them himself, he provides an illustrative lesson that one should not become too entrenched with any particular theory on the pre-history of man as each theory is eventually overturned or modified by new findings.

His writing style seems similar to Jared Diamond. Mann, however, makes his points without getting bogged down in the excruciating details which makes this book much more readable than Guns, Germs, and Steel or Collapse (both of which were excellent books as well). With over 100 pages of notes and references he provides the reader with the necessary information for them to conduct their own level of research based upon their desires.

Fascinating but flawed.......2007-09-23

Henry Ford said that all history was bunk, and he had not even read 1491! What a shock to find that the population of the new world in 1491 was greater than that of the old world! That the natives, said to be long-term farmers, had shaped the landscape to suit themselves, that buffalo roamed in small numbers until old world diseases killed off most (90%) of the native tribes and thus allowed the huge herds to form. What a shock to find that many north American tribes considered themselves libertarian compared with the hierarchy bound Europeans. Yet more than enough evidence is given from old writings long ignored, and new archeological finds.

This is all fast and entertaining reading. There are many maps to help explanations, citations by page number, and an index. Mann traveled to several of the archeological sites.

On the downside, Mann talked of the "balanced diet" as though its desirability has been proven, and does not say how maize provided this "balance" (p18). The battle between Hernán Cortés's men and the Mexica was said to have been described as the costliest battle in history with 100,000 casualties (not deaths), (p129). Why no mention of Verdun in WWI with a million deaths and Stalingrad in WWII with a million deaths? Is a mammoth's molar really the size of a bowling ball? (p152) Mann wrote of winter on the Amazon river. I thought equatorial areas had wet and dry seasons, not the 4 seasons observed far from the equator (pp301,305).

But there is another, bigger fly in the ointment. Mann accepts the carbon dioxide from combustion hypothesis of global warming (pp300,308). Solar cycles of changing heat output and the sun's influence on cosmic ray effects on the Earth's clouds determine climate, not CO2 levels. [Jaworowski Z, Solar cycles, not CO2, determine climate, 21st Century Science and Technology, Winter 2003-2004, pp52-65. Accessed as a PDF on 5 Jul 07 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Jaworowski or at: http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/] According to Laurence Hecht, Editor of 21st Century Science & Technology: "Of all the hypotheses [on Earth climate], that of human-produced carbon dioxide as the forcing mechanism for warming is the most deeply and extensively studied, and by far the most discredited. No other hypothesis rests on such flagrant and lying disrepect for data as...on the falsification of the historical CO2 record." [Hecht L, What Really Causes Climate Change? EIR Science, 2 Mar 07, pp6-9. Accessed as a PDF on 5 Jul 07 at: http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/] The other big falsification in this hypothesis, skyrocketing temperatures in the last 50 years to levels not seen in 1300 years, is exemplified by the temperature graph of Michael Mann, which was shown to be a fraud, not just a mistake [McIntyre, S., McKitrick, R. (2005). Hockey sticks, principal components, and spurious significance. Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L03710; doi:10.1029/2004GL021750], [Soon, W., Baliunas, S. (2003). Proxy climatic and environmental changes of the past 1000 years. Climate Research, 23, 89-110].

So for historical controversies Charles C. Mann appeared to do balanced work, with opposing ideas neatly cited. But by failing to look up the "other side" on global warming, he missed effects of giant volcanic eruptions and solar output changes on temperature. The Roman era warming and Medieval Climate Optimum, both with temperatures higher than now and the Little Ice Age (1500-1800) were ignored, thus their effects on migration and population sizes was missed. Now it seems that the crop failures of the Little Ice Age were a main reason for northern Europeans to try to move to a warmer climate.

As always with with non-fiction, some errors make the entire work suspicious. Still a worthwhile book with its limitations in mind.

Great history, great archeology, great read.......2007-09-23

I love fresh looks on old topics. This book delivers on that theme. As a history teacher I find the same mundane, lopsided, and inaccurate truths presented in textbooks about this era time and time again. Mann's book is a counterweight to that miseducation and shed's light on often under appreciated and misrepresented Native American societies.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

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Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Columbus's Outpost among the Taínos: Spain and America at La Isabela, 1493-1498

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A Tremendous Example of Historical Research

Columbus's Outpost among the Taínos: Spain and America at La Isabela, 1493-1498
Kathleen Deagan , and Jose Maria Cruxent
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0300090404

Book Description

In 1493 Christopher Columbus led a fleet of seventeen ships and more than twelve hundred men to found a royal trading colony in America. Columbus had high hopes for his settlement, which he named La Isabela after the queen of Spain, but just five years later it was in ruins. It remains important, however, as the first site of European settlement in America and the first place of sustained interaction between Europeans and the indigenous Taínos. Kathleen Deagan and José María Cruxent now tell the story of this historic enterprise. Drawing on their ten-year archaeological investigation of the site of La Isabela, along with research into Columbus-era documents, they contrast Spanish expectations of America with the actual events and living conditions at America's first European town. Deagan and Cruxent argue that La Isabela failed not because Columbus was a poor planner but because his vision of America was grounded in European experience and could not be sustained in the face of the realities of American life. Explaining that the original Spanish economic and social frameworks for colonization had to be altered in America in response to the American landscape and the non-elite Spanish and Taíno people who occupied it, they shed light on larger questions of American colonialism and the development of Euro-American cultural identity

Customer Reviews:

A Tremendous Example of Historical Research.......2004-05-18

I read it in three days.

A must have book for anyone interested in the Conquista and early colonization of the Caribbean and America in General. I also believe that anyone interested in the life and deeds of Christopher Columbus should read this work.

The authors' combination of archaeological excavation with documentary research is excellent and should serve as an example for future research projects. Furthermore, some of the discoveries they made will be quite unexpected and surprising for the general public, and even for those familiar with their work.

Book Description

Telling the story of the greatest sailor of them all, "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" is a vivid and definitive biography of Columbus that details all of his voyages that, for better or worse, changed the world. 50 drawings, maps charts; 4 fold-outs.

Customer Reviews:

How Times Have Changed For Cristobal Colon.......2007-10-11

Morison wrote this fine book in honor of the 450'th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America. I think Morison would be surprised at how people's perceptions of the event have changed in the decades since.
First off, let me say that the book is well worth reading. Morison was a man of the sea himself and he sailed in the same waters as Columbus. We see in the book how Columbus was a master seaman as well as being a great salesman, but on the other hand he was a poor geographer and even worse politician. The Portuguese were right in turning down his proposal for the Enterprise of the Indies, their geographers knew that Columbus was way off the mark regarding the distance from Europe to East Asia. In any event, they were making good progress down Africa and they felt it was just a matter of time until they found the bottom of the continent and the entrance to the Indian Ocean.

I would now like to address the change in fortune for Columbus's reputation.

(1) People now like to say that he didn't "discover" America. One reason is because there were already people (the American Indians) there, but that is simply world-games. Of course he "discovered" it, no one in Europe or Asia knew about it, and the Indians didn't know about Europe or Asia either. Secondly, the fact that Columbus wasn't necessarily the first to cross the Atlantic doesn't change anything. The Vikings who reached North America simply viewed it as another Arctic land and had no idea of the geographical relationship of this new continent to the rest of the world. In any event, they didn't exploit their discovery in the long run, only Columbus's voyage led to that. It is also speculated that Portuguese fisherman were crossing the Atlantic before Columbus, after all, they discovered the Azores already in the 1420's (already one-third of the way across the Atlantic) but we don't know if they sighted the continent, and even if they did, they, like the Vikings didn't do anything to exploit their knowledge.

(2) People say that he is responsible for the destruction of the Indian society that existed on Hispaniola. It certainly wasn't his original intention to do this. He wanted to convert the natives to Christianity, so killing them off wouldn't help this mission. Morison himself points out that Columbus did contribute to this tragedy, but even if Columbus had been more careful, I think the Indians would have had the same fate. The settlers that came in the wake of the discovery brought new plants and animals in addition to previously unknown diseases and all these things would have grievously damaged the Indians agricultural system and society. Add to this the Spaniard's missionary religion which no doubt was attractive to at least some of the native population and we see that things could just not remain the same.
(3) Some people claim the pre-Columbian New World was some sort of paradise that the Europeans ruined. This is also knows as the myth of the "noble savage". Unfortunatley it is just a myth because human nature is the same all over the world. Greed, cruelty, avarice and the such are not just European or Western traits. The Carib tribes who inhabited the Caribbean Sea (and gave it its name) were very warlike and fought other, more peaceful tribes. Similarly, the Mexica (also knows as the Aztec) the Hernan Cortes conquered in the wake of Columbus was hated by its Indian neighbors for supressing them and taking prisoners for the human sacrificial system. Thus, we should be more realistic in evaluating the pre-Columbian societies and remove the "politically correct" rose-colored glasses.

(3) While it is true that slaves from Africa were brought over to Hispaniola, it must be remembered that the European slave traders who brought them over to the New World did not land in West Africa and grab natives "off the streets". They bought them from local African chiefs who captured prisoners in their local wars and then sold them to the Europeans. Thus, regarding the cruelty of the slavery system, there is plenty of blame to go around and not just to the white men involved.

All-in-all, this is a very enjoyable book to read about a man, who perhaps more than any other single person, brought about the most massive revolution in human history.

Excellent work.......2007-01-12

Morison's pulitzer prize winning work is an engaging, balanced, well written look at the life of the great explorer. The emphasis of the book is on Columbus, the mariner.(Morrison, a Harvard professor with a sailing background, actually retraced Columbus journeys in his own sailing craft). I was interested in finding a fair and objective historical biography of Columbus (without all the negative, politically correct, anti-European propoganda that permeates the thinking of modern leftist academics).In my opinion, this book provides it. I would highly recommend this work for students of history, who want to gain a better appreciation of the nature and significance of Columbus Voyages.

"Adelante! Adelante!" (Land! Land!).......2006-10-22

"Admiral of the Ocean Sea", Samuel Morison's 1942 Pulitzer Prize winning
biography of Christopher Columbus, is still considered by many to be the
best there is. Morison spent 2 years on a sailboat re-tracing Columbus' voyages bringing a first hand immediacy and perspective that gives it unusual authority on all technical aspects of sailing and navigation. In addition Morison was a Harvard history professor whose research of the written record is impeccable. Even before Columbus died in the early 16th century, there have been countless controversies and debates about many aspects of his life and voyages. Into this maelstrom of legend, myth and folklore - like the discover he writes about - Morison brings order, calm and reliable passage through one of the most fascinating and mythological figures of World History.

Genuinely worthy of five stars.......2005-07-25

I have had this book on my shelf for quite a while, and finally got around to reading it after watching a documentary on Columbus on the Discivery Channel. I got inspired to overcome my intellectual laziness, and how pleased I am I did! This book really deserves its reputation as a timeless classic, and the author, a giant of maritime history, did such a fine job that I now want to read his well known biography of John Paul Jones. The text is gripping and the author's insights abound. This is a fine book.

A colorful narrative, rich in detail........2005-02-22

This book is the definitive work on Columbus. Morison is famous for making the same journey that Columbus made with largely the same equipment in order to prepare for writing this book. His experience shines through in the detail thatMorison lavishes on his subject.

As is the case with any great biography, Morison has become enamored with his subject, highlighting his strengths and successes while downplaying his weaknesses and failures, but you know that going into any biography and can adjust your interpretation accordingly.

The story here is told very well, keeping the reader engaged and turning pages. Additionally, the book dispells many of the myths and common misconceptions about Columbus and really fills in a complete picure of the man.

Well worth reading for any fan of history or biography.

From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492-1969

Average customer rating:

Great story -difficult to read
Truth and Closure.....A Must Read for Everyone!!!!!!!
Very informative and full of facts

From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492-1969
Eric Williams
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0394715020
Release Date: 1984-04-12

Book Description

From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean is about 30 million people scattered across an arc of islands -- Jamaica, Haiti, Barbados, Antigua, Martinique, Trinidad, among others-separated by the languages and cultures of their colonizers, but joined together, nevertheless, by a common heritage. For whether French, English, Dutch, Spanish, Danish, or-latterly-American, the nationality of their masters has made only a notional difference to the peoples of the Caribbean. The history of the Caribbean is dominated by the history of sugar, which is inseparable from the history of slavery; which was inseparable, until recently, from the systematic degradation of labor in the region. Here, for the first time, is a definitive work about a profoundly important but neglected and misrepresented area of the world.

Customer Reviews:

Great story -difficult to read.......2005-02-11

The story of how Europeans "discovered" the Caribbean, and how they governed it, is a fascinating tale of adventure, greed and cruelty. Unfortunately, this book tells it in an style that is pedantic and often uses archaic terms. Here is a typical sentence.

Whatever the cogitations of Parliament on these nuances of international trade in the eighteenth century, it laid it down decisively, according to an American merchant, in the omnicompetence lauded by Blackstone, "as a fundamental that the Islands were the only useful colonies we had and that the continent was rather a nuisance." (page 223)

If has a lot of data, which you will enjoy if you want to know how many hogsheads, barrels and tierces of sugar were exported from a particular island in a particular year. At times the author provides page after page of this information, which is a bit dry for the non-economist. He also assumes that his reader knows European history in some detail.

It is a tough read at times, but the fascinating story usually wins out over the style and the data. If you scan it and focus on the sections that document the human dramas, especially in regard to slavery, you will probably learn a lot and enjoy it. You many want to keep a dictionary and a historical reference book handy, however.

Truth and Closure.....A Must Read for Everyone!!!!!!!.......2002-01-22

I can not put into words what this journal of the truth has done for me as a African-American Male living in the United States of America. I was introduced to this book by a man of Guyanese decent who knew I needed to read this book. I have to admit it was a difficult read because my primary education only spoke of American History and there was no mentioning of any African-Caribbean contributors from the "Middle Passage" period. Now, at thirty-nine many things are clearer to me. "Roots" and "Beloved" are historic, well-documented treasures and need to be used in educating all children no matter race, creed or color. To make sure what I read had some semblance of truth while in Puerto Rico I visited a sugar mill in Guanica and my heart just melted. If you read the book you will understand my feelings. I became angry because something as simple as not being forthwith with documented history such as this to young minds of American children lead to misunderstandings amongst the masses hailing from Africa, South America, The Caribbean, Asia, United States and Europe. Eric Williams I know I can not thank you in person because you are no longer here physically but your spirit lives on in your books and you will always be alive everytime one more person reads your book and awaken "Thank You"! For everyone else read the book it will cleanse your soul and feed your mind. Once you finish this read "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" by the same author.

Very informative and full of facts.......1997-02-18

A handy and indepth guide to the history and economy of the Caribbean from 1492 to 1960s. He provides ample numerical data to illustrate the period. There is also, an extensive bibliography and a fine index.

Average customer rating:

Indispensible
Excellent resource for teachers
drivel........
Excellent
Rethinking All History Books

Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years

Manufacturer: Rethinking Schools Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 094296120X

Book Description

This is a revised and expanded edition of a popular 1991 booklet that changed the way "the discovery of America" is taught in classroom and community settings. The new edition has over 100 pp. of new material, including a role-play trial of Columbus, materials on Thanksgiving Day, resources, historical documents, poetry, and more. It will help readers replace murky legends with a better sense of who we are and why we are here -- and celebrates over 500 years of the courageous struggles and lasting wisdom of native peoples.

Customer Reviews:

Indispensible.......2007-08-19

As a history teacher who feels it is my responsibility to teach histories that have been marginalized and to teach truth that has been denied, Rethinking Columbus (and other books put out by Rethinking Schools) is tremendously useful, not only for the practical ideas for lesson plans and activities (which are wonderful), but also for the general message of the importance of critical thinking among students and teachers. I wish curriculum of this sort had been shared with me in my teacher education program.

Excellent resource for teachers.......2007-03-10

Rethinking Columbus provides a variety of resources, includign articles, essays, poems, song lyrics. lesson plan ideas, maps, lists, book reviews, and itnerviews. All around the central theme of finding an accurate interpretation of the Native American experience in the Americas since Columbus landed here in 1492. It is especially useful as a place for alternative resources that might be used in the classroom in the form of copyable pages that could be read to or by students, depending on their reading level. The status quo in our system is to teach about Columbus as a hero who "discovered" America. This book gives us an alternative version, where Columbus's actions instigate mass genocide, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and issues of opression that Native American's still suffer today.

The book does not contain fully detailed lesson plans, but has several pages of ideas for lessons with appropriate resources. There is an elementary and a secondary section, the secondary section covers mroe modern issues Native Americans face, while the elementary section covers more of the history. The book has two articles that review children's literature surrounding Columbus. The article on traditional literature shows the massive dismissal in a majority of the books of Native People as human beings of worth, only the white people have names, they are heroes, it is told from only their point of view. The second article reviews books that attempt to be more culturally relevant, while all of these also have problems. I was frustrated reading this, because it did not review books that were completely apprppriate, and maybe there aren't many. They did list a few in the back of the book. But by having the reviews of where there could be problems with the literature, teachers can still use the resources and discuss with their students how the author might have gotten it wrong.

Since the book is comprised of a series of articles, it is not one you have to read front to back. You can pick it up and easily read a section, and it could be something you could come to with a specific topic and easily find a resource without dredging through long passages.

The book could go into further detail about connections outside social studies, such as the accomplishments of native peoples in the areas of science, math, and other areas.

drivel...............2006-06-05

Bigelow seeks to shamelessly use the schools as the propaganda arm for his obsolescent pseudo Marxist horse hockey - despite having absoltuely no democratically mandated authority to do so; thus, like a true apparatachik, he boldly goes where no sane person wants to go, onto slef-initiated committees where he and his ilk rhetorically bludgeon their way to exclusive membership and hope to use the mechanism of bureaucratic state coercion to cram their communist agenda deep into the...well, you get the picture. The odd thing about the Bigandlow type is they generally bring with them a trailing retinue of glassy- eyed women who nod stone faced as the Bigandlow Chairman pours forth venom against the perfidious pawns of the profiteers in meatings no sane person would attend more than once.

Photos of Bigelow bending down to help black students smiling at their desks and working earnestly at their studies are eerily similar to pictures of Hitler petting his dogs who have come to sniff his vegetarian meal.

The next 500 years in the title should give you a pretty good idea that this totalitarian millenialism all over again. Will Bigandlow take his case to the voters and run an HONEST campaign as a communist? Of course not. Like any good Stalinist - Leninist, he knows damn well that the capitalists will simply pervert the election and sway the gullible masses with fear. Thus Bigandlow doesn't mind lying about his intentions until he feels the people are ready for communnism. And he and his ilk have annointed themselves the cultural army that will transform consciousness.

Excellent.......2004-03-12

This is a wonderful book about atrocity and genocide. It should be reqiured in every public school in the U.S.

Rethinking All History Books.......2001-11-08

I always thought that there was another story to every history event. They always just told us about the preditures doings and not what happened to the victims. I never knew the whole truth about the Columbus aventure. I also never heard of the way they treated Native Americans when they came into our country. I recommend this book to all school systems. All students and adults should know the truth about their hero. This book also made me look at other events in the past that the regular history books left out. I hope to learn more about the truth from other history events that happened. This is the best book that I read in a long time.

They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America

Average customer rating:

Interesting but thats all.
Well-Written Obligatory History Science Revealing Amazing Facts
Historical nit-picking aside
His-Story is slowly being unravelved
A must have

They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America
Ivan Van Sertima
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Expeditions & Discoveries | World | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0812968174
Release Date: 2003-09-23

Amazon.com

This controversial book by Ivan Van Sertima, the Guyanese historian, linguist, and anthropologist, claims that Africans had been to the New World centuries before Columbus arrived there in 1492. Citing--among other things--the huge Negroid-looking Olmec heads of Central Mexico and the similarities between the Aztec and Egyptian calendars and pyramid structures, Van Sertima pieces together a hidden history of pre-Columbian contact between Africans and Native Americans. He also puts forth the possibility that Columbus may have already known about a route to the Americas from his years in Africa as a trader in Guinea. The ideas in this book have been debated and discussed since its first publication in 1976; even those who choose not to believe Van Sertima's theories should take his argument seriously. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Book Description

They Came Before Columbus reveals a compelling, dramatic, and superbly detailed documentation of the presence and legacy of Africans in ancient America. Examining navigation and shipbuilding; cultural analogies between Native Americans and Africans; the transportation of plants, animals, and textiles between the continents; and the diaries, journals, and oral accounts of the explorers themselves, Ivan Van Sertima builds a pyramid of evidence to support his claim of an African presence in the New World centuries before Columbus. Combining impressive scholarship with a novelist’s gift for storytelling, Van Sertima re-creates some of the most powerful scenes of human history: the launching of the great ships of Mali in 1310 (two hundred master boats and two hundred supply boats), the sea expedition of the Mandingo king in 1311, and many others. In They Came Before Columbus, we see clearly the unmistakable face and handprint of black Africans in pre-Columbian America, and their overwhelming impact on the civilizations they encountered.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting but thats all........2007-07-05

This book raises a few interesting issues but that is about all. Did Columbus discover America? Obviously not as there were people inhabiting the place when he arrived. Had people from the 'old world' traveled to America before Columbus? There would be no reason to suggest that they had not. We have found coins and jewlery from Norse cultures and in this book examples of African art and culture also.

Concerning some images such as statues are art. Yes, they could be African, most likely Native American, possibly influenced by Africans. I mean the thing that is often forgotten is that contary to popular belief our ancestors did not just sit about their own private villages or towns never daring to travel. We have numerous travel books from adventurers and oral tradition to prove otherwise. The peoples of the south Pacific who colonised the islands there, the numerous 'Rihla' books in Arabic and 'Seyahet-name' in Persian and Turkish.

People did travel, there are travel books from Arab manuscripts of adventurers who went to Northern Russia and Eastern Europe, Masudi who went into the Indian jungles the list is endless so there is no reason to asume that Africans may or may not have traveled the Atlantic to the Americas and if in sufficiant numbers settled there.

Where the book does start to go to far is to claim that there was some African influence on nearly every aspect of Native American culture. This form of cultural imperialism is no different than the European kind.

An interesting book, I liked the tale of the Mali king who sailed away leaving his kingdom. Worth reading but with a pinch of salt.

Well-Written Obligatory History Science Revealing Amazing Facts.......2007-04-25

In the meanwhile (from the book's 1st publishing in 1976) it has become widely accepted that the Vikings preceded Columbus in the Americas considerably. It is also popularly known today that Columbus never set foot on American mainland soil personally on any of his travels. Yet, it is still argued by many African Americans that Black Africans arrived in the Americas simultaneously with the very first "Columbian-European" ships onwards - as slaves - and therefore are as naturally or not "Americans" as the Euro Americans today. Why so shy? Ivan Van Sertima proves neatly that Black Africans preceded Columbus in the Americas in at least half a dozen eras, some of those even preceding the Vikings considerably. In fact, that the Americas never have been as completely isolated from Africasia (including Europe) as commonly believed, with accidental driftings from e.g. Japan, Oceania, Europe and Africa all along - even vice versa. Most fascinating are the PLANNED travels by Black Africans to the Americas, ranging from the Egyptian-Phoenician joint (ad)ventures, via the (Black) Mali Empire of 1310/11 and the Moorish-Arabs. While some of these didn't leave that many traces in the Americas, some introduced botanical revolutions in the "Old World" upon return, others caused considerable influences in the famous civilisations of the Americas, such as the Olmecs, Mayas, Aztecs, socalled Incas and many others.

If that sounds unbelievable, you will know for sure after reading this book. I have reviewed parts (!) of other revealing books as a bit of a fishing, theories in need of scientific validation (The Africans Who Wrote the Bible); as maybe flawed proofs for general truths to be enhanced by more modern reasonings (Stolen Legacy); as less than circumstantial evidence (AFRICAN ORIGINS OF FREEMASONRY: Treatise of the Ancient Grand Lodge of Khamet). This book, however, in all parts manages to convince with overwhelming scientific hard evidence, simply un-disprovable. To quote the book's conclusion: "The African [pre-Columbian] presence is proven by stone heads, terra-cottas, skeletons, artifacts, techniques and inscriptions, by oral traditions and documented history, by botanical, linguistic and cultural data." Astounding to read today that Columbus himself was very much aware of African contact with the Americas preceding him, in fact this being the reason to pursue those travel( route)s in the first place. That the nautical skills of most of the preceding Africans by far outmatched those of Columbus - even up to the Europeans till the 18th century. That the king Abubakari himself of the Mali empire, which dwarfed the Roman empire, crossed the Atlantic on a first contact mission very daringly. Not to mention the very specific and very complex parallels between several ancient American and African cultures.

After reading this book, what strikes me as more amazing than the facts revealed, is my previous vague might-or-maybe-belief of them, as I had basically heard of the respective "theory" of the book's title, but without any proven specifics. Being fairly educated on this for my interest in Africa I did know before that it is accepted facts that the ancient Egyptians dug a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea and successfully sent a shipping expedition around Africa. That the Phoenicians became a sea travelling people. That the Egyptians knew that the world was ball-shaped and were masters of astronomy. That they were master-precision builders geometrically and astronomically. That the Polynesians were able to travel to and settle on Hawaii, Easter Island, New Zealand and Madagascar with ships not even resulting from an extraordinary megacity building society. More recently I had learned that the Egyptians and Phoenicians travelled to the British Isles by ship, even into the Baltic Sea. That the East Africans sent ships to India, even China, transporting gifts for the emperors such as elephants and giraffes. And so on and so forth. How was it possible not to automatically assume, Africans could and would send ships to the Americas?! Only because the white-skinned Europeans (largely) wouldn't and couldn't?

The latter fact isn't that surprising either. East Africa is the cradle of humanity, (lighter) black the first skin color. White is one of the last phenotypes emerging so far, for one of the last inhabitations was Europe (having been under ice a lot). Everybody knows that at the time of the pyramids getting built (no matter in which time line version), nothing of the sort happened in Northern, Central, not even in Southern Europe. And after the Greco-Roman cultural collapse, Europe was plunged - on purpose by the religious rulers - into the Dark Ages of mis-education or rather no-education. Sciences and (e.g. nautical) skills were re-introduced by the (largely Black) Moorish-Arab empire(s), stretching into Iberia. It is also no surprise that we have been misinformed on Africa. In order to sell mass-enslavement (again originally in order to demolish the rivaling Egyptian Black Isis religion, spreading in Europe) of the once venerated Black Africans to their European (Christian) subjects, the white rulers had to invent the propaganda that Blacks wouldn't even be humans, but wild apes. In those three lights this book's content appears very natural and not at all like a "controversial theory". The latter is one of the reactions I got for reading this book (publicly, silently by myself). Another reaction was that this is a typically (19)70s book: "Stuff like that was written back then.", ending the interest in this book. Knowledge isn't a fashion! It has to be enhanced by constantly building up on itself. If you never keep up, the gap will only widen. Someone third had never heard about this and couldn't believe it, as he has been misinformed that no pre-colonial civilisation existed in (supposedly) landlocked (Black) Africa. (For this specific purpose of balancing this lack of information I advise to read When We Ruled: The Ancient and Medieval History of Black Civilisations as a preparation for this book.) But then again, during the last couple of (publicly reading) weeks I was approached three times by strangers, commenting their amazement that I could read (as a RastafarI), and IF I could that I indeed would chose to do so. Two of them in all seriousness suggesting, I would only pretend (being able) to read to falsely impress people. Which reminds me of Ivan Van Sertima's words in this book: Racist conditioned people are rather willing to believe the absolutely absurd - Erich von Däniken's science fiction that aliens from outer space built the African and American pyramids - than accepting the most obvious, easily provable reality that it was Black Africans (in combination with the Native Americans).

The elapsed time from 1976 hasn't only given us a much better overstanding of the ancient American cultures, but has confirmed Ivan Van Sertima by disconfirming him, which should be taken into consideration: Ancient North Africans from the Egyptians via the Pheonicians (including Carthage) to the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula once had been black/much more black than described in this book. It is also known today that the ocean traveling East African Swahili culture became much less Arab influenced and that much later on than previously averred. It has been revealed that Egyptian history has been enviously faked to appear much younger by an initial Berlin Egyptologist, whose "findings" got copied ever since. Thus, the 1st dynasty didn't start some time in the late 4th millennia B.C., but in the early 6th millennia B.C. The first known mummification isn't anymore from Fezzan, "3,500 B.C.", but Uan Muhuggiag in (Black) Libya, ca. 7,500 B.C. Chemical analyses of Egyptian mummies have further proven American contact: Residues of cocaine. (Plus of Australian eucalyptus, by the way.) Most certainly, genetics have advanced in quantum leaps, yet I am not aware of any studies looking into the pre-Colombian African connection. In other words: Even where since 1976 Ivan Van Sertima has been overtaken by ever fresher knowledge (human knowledge currently doubles every 5 years), his statements get confirmed ever more. If the next print of this book fails to include an update, after well more than 30 years, indeed a rating star may be subtracted then.)

A note on the one-star populists on this review site: There are tons of them. None of them, I repeat: not a single one of them even attempts to disprove any of Van Sertima's proofs. (One corrects a bit, but of irrelevant specifics not concerned with the major question.) All they do is to hurl statements of disbelief, based on nothing else but layperson opinions, at the potential buyers of this book. With the only intent to prevent as many people as possible to read this book. Because they are not reasoning with the other reviewers, as the former do not argue as if having read the book and/or as if attempting to convince the other reviewers. The focus is solely on the potential new readers. Superficially, they seem all logical. But all, I repeat, ALL of their arguments are dismissable with ease. That's what I have done a lot in my comments of such populist reviews. I will give one example. Early on in the debate several reviewers claim, because close-by Madagascar is populated by Polynesians, not Africans, no Africans by all logic could have travelled to distant America. Sounds sensible? Well: Van Sertima makes proof of the Egyptians, largely in connection with the Phoenicians as well as the Mali empire travelled to America. Not the East Africans off the coast of Madagascar. Take a look at a globe or a Peter's Map: America is four times closer to Mali than Madagascar (by sea route). Additionally, a map of currents and winds provided in the book shows perfectly that Africans from the ancient Mali empire (i.e. the Senegalese/The Gambian coast) are able to basically float to America without trying, while having to counter winds and currents to get to Madagascar. At the time of the ancient Egyptian canal non-existant, the Egyptian-Phoenician ships would have to have travelled almost completely around Africa to get to Madagascar, even much further away than from Mali. And when they had the canal, they travelled around Africa the other direction. Also: It is historic fact that Vasco da Gama "discovered" India for one reason only: Hiring a Black Swahili sea guide showing him the way. Also: It is even false that no Africans populated Madagascar. It was only that the Polynesians had a much bigger overpopulation problem on their largely small islands, causing much greater emigration pressure, i.e. they quickly outnumbered the Black Africans on Madagascar. Yet, the populists' argument even supports Van Sertima: The Polynesians are/were still largely black, supposedly posessing inferior to white European civilisation. Yet they are by far the most spread out people the world has ever seen - all by ocean travel (with no original ship surviving till today). Last not least the Arabs came into contact with Black, Polynesian, Chinese, Viking and Greco-Roman ship-building knowledge and nautical skills. Why wouldn't they be able to reach the Americas?

Historical nit-picking aside.......2007-04-10

Historical cultural nit-picking aside, this book did an excellent job of blowing away my own blind spots regarding the likelihood of multiple pre-columbian voyages to (and from) the Americas. The author provides historical, archeological, and linguistic evidence and indications of African voyages to the Americas, including written accounts by early European explorers. The author also writes well-crafted 're-enactments' based on valid sources that make the past come alive in the mind's eye of the reader. While this makes for great reading, it may be outside the norm of Euro-American academic culture, weakening the credibility of his thesis in those circles. Each chapter comes with an extensive bibliography. Having read modern accounts of individuals and groups surviving trans-oceanic voyages on small disabled craft, all of his accounts are plausible, most are convincing, none seem far-fetched. The only thing that's really shocking is the lack of published follow-up research and books since Ivan's book was published more than thirty years ago. A great read.

His-Story is slowly being unravelved.......2007-02-27

One of the most enduring myths in the Americas is that Columbus discovered America in 1692. In fact Columbus did not discover diggly. He was actually very late on the scene. The Africans "discovered" the Americas hundreds of years before. The population was already there. They just wanted to know what was on the other side of the big water, and thought they would go and visit. Some of the Africans came by accident, pushed by the trade winds. Others like Abubakari the Second came to the Americas in 1310 by way of a planned expedition, with hundreds of people, provisions, boats, etc.

However, Columbus was very important. With his coming, came the slaughter of native people and the theft of their lands, and the beginning of the degradation of the African in the Americas.

This book is very academic. But it is an excellent read, if you can get through it. There is much information, and will surely broaden your body of knowledge.

A must have.......2007-01-04

All interested in the true history of Africans, African Americans, and the Americas must read this book.

Historical Moments: Changing Interpretations of America's Past, Volume 1

Average customer rating:

Great

Historical Moments: Changing Interpretations of America's Past, Volume 1
Jim R. McClellan
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0072285060

Book Description

Each chapter in this unique compilation, designed to be informative and thought-provoking, offers an examination of incidents from the pre-colonial period through the Civil War, important to the development of the American Nation. It features a mix of primary and secondary source materials on approximately 30 selected "moments" in American history. Designed for use in introductory courses in American history, the incidents it covers were chosen both for their historical significance and to present a wide variety of human endeavors. Given the range of topics presented, there should be subjects of special interest to every student, regardless of major.

Customer Reviews:

Great.......2006-01-17

Jim R. McClellan has done students a great service in publishing 100s of primary sources and secondary sources of certain events in Americas past. In this volume is many documents at the time the events occurred giving the reader the chance to come to his own conclusion about what happened. Also there are excerpts from what historians have said about the event since the time the event occured, in doing this the reader will see how historians have changed many of their interpretations of Americas past.

The Four Voyages: Being His Own Log-Book, Letters and Dispatches with Connecting Narratives.. (Penguin Classics)

Average customer rating:

No, the Third Voyage is the best!
great description of Columbus voyages
Columbus Resurrected
Amazing. An in debt look at Columbus and hislifeBuDdaHlOvAh

The Four Voyages: Being His Own Log-Book, Letters and Dispatches with Connecting Narratives.. (Penguin Classics)
Christopher Columbus
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140442170

Customer Reviews:

No, the Third Voyage is the best!.......2006-03-16

This book contains primary sources ONLY. (How do I "rate" the letters of Christopher Columbus? :-) You can read about the life and times of an historical character by the very best historians for years, but until you read what that character actually wrote about his own experiences, you're groping in the dark. Nothing compares to getting it from the horse's mouth.

These letters, beautifully translated, free of anyone's opinions, are history's nuclear core. Any gut sense YOU get from these words may well be closer to the truth than what you've read by any scholar. Occasionally you might realize that your favorite historian didn't actually finish reading some of the letters they're basing an argument on! Then you are in a position of knowing more than he/she does.

I do wonder why Penguin doesn't fix the date of Columbus's death. The editor has him dying in 1509 (not a typo since it's repeated) which is a shame. Columbus died 500 years ago this spring, and a quincentenary only happens once. It's "Goodbye, Columbus" May 20th, 2006.

FAVORITE VOYAGE: NO. 3, when he blesses the continent of South America with his tears (red with blood from exposure and illness) and warns the Monarchs that this is the Earthly Paradise and no one may enter without God's leave.

great description of Columbus voyages.......2005-11-02

This book is a great description of the events related to the exploration of the new world made by Columbus. The first two voyages are the most interesting because of the discovery of the caribbean island and the natives inhabitants living there, the arawaks and the caribs. The latter were very particular on account of its cannibalism.

In the third voyage, Columbus finally reach mainland and the fourth voyage was the toughest of all due to huge storms that lasted several days and the attacks of indian while there were repairing. At the end of the book there is an account made by Diego Mendez, a truly survivor and loyal servant of the Admiral who saved the lives of all of them while they were waiting in Jamaica, for a year.

I my opinion Columbus was a great navigator and a brave man. It is sad how the life of the Admiral ends and the poor retribution from the kings of Spain.

Columbus Resurrected.......2004-03-12

J. M. Cohen's translation of various 1st-hand or near first-hand accounts, including that of Columbus' son, Hernando Colon's LIFE OF THE ADMIRAL brings the Columbus story to life.

The Introduction, coming from a translator of literature rather than a historian, is rather uninspiring; however, he does provide a rather thorough rebuttal of the argument, made by many supporters of Bartolome de Las Casas and referred to without explanation by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto in COLUMBUS, that Hernando Colon's work is a forgery. Indeed, since it appeared long before Las Casas' HISTORY was published, the issue of forgery may go in the other direction!

The book, through early Spanish sources, looks at the rumor that Columbus relied on the map of an ailing Portuguese sailor. It makes plain Columbus' error in thinking he was near Japan (Chipangu) and his belief that he would reach Cathay! We see his rather innocent introduction to the potent tobacco plant and how the natives fed his belief that gold, pearl and spices were nearby.

Columbus is shown to be of mixed character: on the one hand, he generally seems to respect the natives he meets and makes an alliance with one chieftain against the 'cannibal' Caribs. On the other, he takes several natives captive (to have them trained in Spanish so that they can serve as translators on future voyages), gives some Carib women to his men (who raped them as in the case of the vile Michele de Cuneo) and discusses conquest and enslavement of idolators [not particularly shocking considering the long history of conflicts and mutual enslavement between the muslim moors of Spain & Northern Africa and the Christians of Spain & Portugal].

Columbus' biggest problem appears to be his tendency to leave his men (39 on the first voyage) as colonies while he explores elsewhere. Whenver he returns, the natives have either killed the colonists or were at war with them - often due to the Spaniards' greed and licentiousness. Indeed, at one point, he leaves his brother in charge and the Spaniards, being forbidden to sleep with the native women revolt and found a rebel colony where the women were supposed to be more accomodating! Columbus ultimately is forced into an accomodation with these Spaniards and eventually conquers the natives. We also see the separate voyage of Ovando to Hispaniola and the beginnings of the gold mines. Columbus, not unlike a number of his successors, suffered arrest and trial and, after his last voyage, was deprive of power and authority.

Columbus' voyages, following in the footsteps of the Henrican discoveries, would likely have eventually been made by someone but Columbus seems especially driven to exploration. It was an unfortunate fact that he was also a very poor (and often absent) governor. His actions, sometimes courageous and thoughtful, sometimes harsh and reflexive probably represent the more civilized men of his time - when the Middle Ages was just ending, slavery and religious wars continued in Spain, Portugal, North Africa and Italy, and people were still being burned at the stake for heresy.

Amazing. An in debt look at Columbus and hislifeBuDdaHlOvAh.......1998-10-29

This book was excellent. It taught me so much more about Columbus and his journey's. Being a school teacher, this book sure will help me while teaching my students. I now have much more knolege on the subject.

Christopher Columbus (Step-Into-Reading, Step 3)

Average customer rating:

Good Starter Book For Learning About Columbus.

Christopher Columbus (Step-Into-Reading, Step 3)
Stephen Krensky
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679803696
Release Date: 1991-08-20

Book Description

Illus. in full color. Youngsters can celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus's fateful voyage with this dramatic, easy-to-read account of a pivotal moment in American history. "

Customer Reviews:

Good Starter Book For Learning About Columbus........2002-08-03

Hi!:) This book is nice and informative without being too long and boring. It will most likely appeal to children around 5 or 6 through about 9 or 10. After that, they may want to read another, more in depth biography about this remarkable and fearless sailor and explorer.
The illustrations are realistic and well done.
I, as a parent, felt that the ending was a bit weak, but children will certainly gain a better understanding and clearer picture of the explorer, and his sacrifices, upon reading this book. Wording is simple and uncomplicated. A step 2 book.
Good information, good book!~

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