Vasco da Gama: Renaissance Crusader (Library of World Biography Series)

Glenn Joseph Ames

ISBN 10: 0321092821 / ISBN 13: 9780321092823

Published by Pearson, 2004

About this Item

Examines the life and career of Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama, telling of his voyages in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and discussing his influence on the course of world history. A few highlights. Please note the image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item.

Seller Inventory # 123465456

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Vasco da Gama: Renaissance Crusader (Library of World Biography Series)
• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0321092821
• ISBN 13: 9780321092823
• Binding: Softcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Book Type: Book

About this title

Synopsis

This biography traces the dramatic life and career of Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer whose voyages played a pivotal role in expanding the Portuguese empire and creating an impressive Asian spice trade during the age of exploration in the 15th and 16th century.

 

The titles in the Library of World Biography series make ideal supplements for World History survey courses or other courses in the history curriculum where figures in history are explored. Paperback, brief and inexpensive, each interpretative biography in this series focuses on a figure whose actions and ideas significantly influenced the course of World history. At the same time, each biography relates the life of its subject to the broader themes and developments of the times.

 

Deified by some and vilified by others, Vasco Da Gama was born a minor noble who rose to a position of great wealth, prestige, and power during the golden age of Portuguese maritime exploration in the 15th and 16th century. He played a pivotal role in expanding the Portuguese Empire along the west coast of Africa, India, and eventually the entire Indian Ocean through his expeditions bringing back valuable spices from Asia. His epic first voyage to India from 1497-1499 was a seminal event in developing the beginnings of the global economy and society in which we live today. Da Gama was a new type of crusader who sought both riches and the conversion of those he encountered to Christianity. In his travels and in court life, da Gama demonstrated a single-minded zeal in navigating complex situations sometimes with brutal force. Many of the economic, political, and religious issues that confronted da Gama have contemporary relevance today.

Review

'...an unpretentious and reassuringly straightforward biography of the explorer, uncluttered by historical precedence, padding or personal opinion....For anybody needing a biography of Da Gama on their shelves, this would be the one to choose.'Raymond John Howgego, International Journal of Maritime History (Volume XVII, No. 1, June 2005)