The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy - Softcover

Sale, Kirkpatrick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0452266696 ISBN 13: 9780452266698

Publisher: Plume, 1991

Synopsis

Dispels the myths surrounding the journey of Christopher Columbus, with new translations of historical documents that reveal the European motivations for exploration. Reprint.

About this title

From Library Journal:

What distinguishes this book from numerous others (some 150) published on Columbus in this century is Sale's attempt to separate the man from the legend. He returns to the original sources to take stock of the "historical Columbus" and then traces the growth of the "heroic Columbus." Overall, his portrait of Columbus is not flattering. A rootless man who never fully understood the enormity of his discovery, Columbus spent his declining years making unreasonable demands of his sovereigns for his heirs. Sale reminds us that part of the Columbian legacy was environmental despoliation and destruction of native cultures. Most fascinating is his tracing of the Columbus legend from its origins in the 16th century to the present. The story of his transformation from a simple sea captain to a tragic hero is an engaging one, well told and copiously documented here. In the flood of new Columbus scholarship, this certainly merits a place on all libraries' shelves. BOMC and Quality Paperback Book Club alternates.
- Brian E. Coutts, Western Ken tucky Univ. Libs., Bowling Green
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

This demythologizing biographical adventure credits Columbus with the birth of American slavery and Euro-colonialism, and examines how peaceful Native Americans saw their societies and environments plundered by the whites' encroachments. Sale's "wide-angled history represents a major rethinking of the relationship between Europe and America," said PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Plume
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0452266696
• ISBN 13: 9780452266698
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 464