| Edition |
First American edition. |
| Description |
vii, 273 pages : maps ; 24 cm |
| Note |
Translation of: La meravigliosa avventura di Cristoforo Colombo. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-266) and index. |
| Contents |
Genoa : the spell of the sea -- Columbus's cultural roots -- Chios : the spell of the Orient -- Portugal -- Iceland and the lost discovery of the Norsemen -- Lisbon, marriage, and Porto Santo -- Master of the Atlantic -- Reaching East by sailing West : a new way of thinking -- Scientific support : Toscanelli -- The proposed plan refused by the king of Portugal -- Spain : Father Marchena -- The consolation of Beatriz de Arana -- Desperation -- All wishes granted -- Gomera, womb of America -- The first ocean crossing -- San Salvador : the first encounter -- "Asia" -- Discoveries in the new lands -- The peoples of the new lands -- The myth of gold -- Shipwreck -- Discovery of the route home -- Mockery and triumph -- The second voyage -- Tragedy -- The gold mine -- Exploration of Cuba and Jamaica and misfortunes at La Isabela -- War and slavery -- Humiliating return to Spain -- The Treaty of Tordesillas, Ferrer, Vespucci, and preparation for the third voyage -- "Another world" -- A mysterious intuition -- Coup d'etat at Santo Domingo -- To complete the uncompleted : the fourth voyage -- Ciriqui : the shattered dream -- Veragua : gold and Coca -- Santa Gloria -- The last crossing and death -- Columbus the man, protagonist in the Great Undertaking -- For further reading. |
| Summary |
Paolo Emilio Taviani, Europe's foremost expert on Columbus, here distills his four-volume scholarly study of the navigator into a rich, highly readable biography for the general reader. Taviani presents Columbus's life with the pace of a novel while putting the man in the context of his extraordinary times. A contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci, a few years older than Henry VIII, Christopher Columbus changed their world more than any man since Jesus. Taviani gives us a sketch of Columbus's Europe and shows how Columbus's skill as a sailor (nurtured in his hometown of Genoa, then the world's premier port) joined with his deep religious faith (steeped in the Franciscan tradition), and led him to confront the mystery of the antipodes, which remained a subject of dread and superstition to his fellow men. - Jacket flap. |
| Subject |
Columbus, Christopher.
|
|
Explorers -- America -- Biography.
|
|
Explorers -- Spain -- Biography.
|
|
America -- Discovery and exploration -- Spanish.
|
| Added Title |
Meravigliosa avventura di Cristoforo Colombo. English
|
| ISBN |
0517584743: $20.00 ($26.00 Can.) |
|
9780517584743 |
|
