The Race to the New World: Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, and a Lost History of Discovery - Hardcover

Hunter, Douglas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0230110118 ISBN 13: 9780230110113

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011

Synopsis

The final decade of the 15th century was a turning point in world history. The Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus sailed westward on the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, famously determined to discover for Spain a shorter and more direct route to the riches of the Indies. Meanwhile, a fellow Italian explorer for hire, John Cabot, set off on his own journey, under England's flag. Here, Douglas Hunter tells the fascinating tale of how, during this expedition, Columbus gained a rival. In the space of a few critical years, these two men engaged in a high-stakes race that threatened the precarious diplomatic balance of Europe - to exploit what they believed was a shortcut to staggering wealth. Instead, they found a New World that neither was looking for. Hunter provides a revelatory look at how the lives of Columbus and Cabot were interconnected, and that neither explorer can be understood properly without understanding both. Together, Cabot and Columbus provide a novel and important perspective on the first years of European experience of the New World.

About this title

Product Description

The Race to the New World Christopher Columbus and his lesser known rival, fellow Italian explorer for hire John Cabot, were both searching for a shortcut to the riches of the Indies, instead they found a New World they were not looking for. This revelatory look at how their lives intersected provides a fresh insight into a turning point in world history. Full description

Review

A fascinating story of political desperation and artful salesmanship amid a European struggle for wealth and power. "The Washington Post" An intriguing and surprising new twist on the old subject . . . Other historians have paralleled the voyages of Columbus and Cabot, but Hunter interweaves their stories and places them firmly into the complex geopolitical landscape of Renaissance Europe . . . As this fascinating historical detective story unfolds, new pieces of an old puzzle are put into place, providing fresh perspective on the traditional discovery narrative. [An] important contribution to the scholarship of exploration history. "Booklist" Hunter puts together an intriguing account from an international cooperative research effort among historians to reconstruct sources that were either destroyed or lost ... [He] turns what seems like a well-known story into something well worth exploring again. "Kirkus Reviews" Using fresh archival evidence, Hunter expertly recounts Columbus insinuating his way into the Spanish court of Fernando and Isabel through marriage, and Cabot's escape from a bridge-building scheme turned bad in Venice into the arms of an England lusting after the riches attained by ocean exploration ... In a fresh account, Hunter recovers the life and broken career of Martin Behaim, who built one of the first globes and likely fashioned Cabot's proposed route to Asia. "Publishers Weekly" Douglas Hunter has produced yet another vivid, original narrative that brings to life a whole period while shedding new light on early explorers who sailed from Europe for the New World. Exhaustively researched, authoritative: I wish I'd written this one! "Ken McGoogan, Author of Fatal Passage and Race to the Polar Sea" It is always a treat when new information on an interesting topic emerges, or likewise a new interpretation of existing facts. It is rare indeed to find both in the same book... Hunter delivers... an intellectual and historical mystery sure to enthral those interested in the early European exploration of the Americas. "Stephen R. Bown, Author of Merchant Kings: When Companies Ruled the World, 1600-1900 and 1494: How a Family Feud in Medieval Spain Divided the World in Half." [An] absolutely splendid exposition on the initial European probes that opened the New World... The major and peripheral characters in this intriguing drama are brought to life with unusual clarity... A well researched and clearly written account of the Columbus and Cabot voyages of discovery... stitched into the broader diplomatic and mercantile context of the period. "Conrad E. Heidenreich, Professor Emeritus at York University, co-author of Samuel de Champlain Before 1604""

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0230110118
• ISBN 13: 9780230110113
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288