Columbus on Himself

by Felipe Fernández-Armesto

Overview

Intended as an antidote to potted biographies and piecemeal reconstructions of his voyages, this volume draws on judicious selections from Christopher Columbus's own writings—chronologically arranged, and translated into idiomatic English—to relate his self-perception and personal history, as far as is possible, in his own words. The result is a full and vivid (and often surprising) portrait of this complex man and the role he thought he was destined to play as God's instrument on earth.

Twenty-four illustrations, maps of Columbus’s routes across the Atlantic and his travels in the West Indies, and an index further enhance this introduction to his life and discoveries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603841337
Publisher:	Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Publication date:	03/15/2010
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	300
Sales rank:	714,412
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Felipe Fernández-Armesto is Professor of Global Environmental History at Queen Mary, University of London, and a member of the Faculty of Modern History at Oxford University. He is also Principe de Asturias Chair in Spanish Culture and Civilization at Tufts University.

Editorial Reviews

Columbus had been the subject of many biographies, but the approach of Columbus on Himself is unique. Fernández-Armesto has created, as far as it is possible, an account of Christopher Columbus's life based on his own words. Columbus left far more potentially autobiographical writings than his contemporary explorers from the age of European expansion, but there are gaps in the record. Fernández-Armesto has arranged Columbus's writings chronologically so readers can see Columbus's development, and intersperses them with his insightful commentary. The translations are Fernández-Armesto's own. Recommended. —R. Fritze, Athens State University, in Choice

From the Publisher