Columbus and the Age of Discovery

Highly recommended for readers who want a general overview of the events leading to Columbus' departure West, his four voyages and discoveries and the global consequences of his accomplishments. This easy reading book is replete with illustrations, maps and other visual aids that add greatly to the work. ( )

Written to be a companion to the PBS series, this is filled with colorful illustrations, some copies of original maps and documents, others artists interpretations through the years. The captions are informative and the text seems to be well written. I skimmed the book because I was reading an extensive biography on Columbus at the time by Samuel Elliot Morison. This was a nice complement to that with photographs of some of the places Columbus had landed. The author also took it beyond Columbus and delved into the effects of this discovery on the new world, and the old. He covered the migration of plant life and the long-term view of Columbus and how it has changed at various times. This seemed to be well balanced, not on a hate mission or a glorification one either. ( )

This historical biography looks at Columbus and the times in which he lived. 1992 is the 500th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of America and this book is the accompanying volume for a seven-part BBC TV series of the same name. The book shows how Columbus came to symbolize both the spirit of heroism and the costs of colonization and follows his progress from journeyman mariner to discoverer of America. The book covers all of his voyages and their effects on the world of his time and the years that followed, together with the scientific and technological developments they foretold. Setting sail on replicas of Columbus's ships, the author combines actual experience with archive material to create a living history of explorations.