No event in human history has changed the world more than the Columbian Exchange, the melding of the “Old†and “New†Worlds initiated by Christopher Columbus’s famous voyage. It opened a new era of global trade, largely depopulated and then repopulated two continents, and began a transfer of plant and animal life that literally changed the face of the planet. Yet the decidedly mixed blessings of this exchange—and Columbus’s undeniable violence and greed—make him the most hotly debated figure in American history.
In this compact narrative biography, Alexander Kennedy drills through centuries of controversy to rediscover the man beneath, a Genoese weaver’s son whose audacity led him to define an era. Backed by equally audacious monarchs, Columbus leads an expedition to the Americas, fueled as more by his iron will than by wisdom. But when his cruelty to both Spanish colonists and indigenous peoples leaves his reputation in tatters, the remaining years of Columbus’s life become a desperate quest to restore his lost honors. Here Kennedy gives us Columbus in all his complexity: the hero, the monster, and the man....
"By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination.†- Christopher Columbus
Buy Now to Discover:
- Columbus’s battle with pirates as a young sailor.
- Debunking of several enduring myths of Columbus’s life.
- The fraught relationship between Columbus and his patron, Queen Isabella.
- The destruction of the Santa Maria—and the fate of its wreckage.
- Columbus’s complicated legacy for American slavery.
- The indigenous resistance to Columbus, including his battles with the Caribs.
- Columbus’s rivalry with explorers Vasco da Gama and Amerigo Vespucci.
Buy Now and Read the True Story of Christopher Columbus
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