The Last Voyage of Columbus

The Last Voyage of Columbus
Book cover, paperback edition.
Author Martin Dugard
Language English
Genre Biography
Publisher Little, Brown & Company
Publication date
 June 1, 2005
Media type Novel
Pages 304
ISBN 0-7595-1376-7

The Last Voyage of Columbus: Being the Epic Tale of the Great Captain's Fourth Expedition, Including Accounts of Sword fight, Mutiny, Shipwreck, Gold, War, Hurricane and Discovery (also referred to as The Last Voyage of Columbus,) is a non-fiction book, authored by Martin Dugard and published in 2005 by Little, Brown and Company.[1] The plot is a lifelong account of explorer Christopher Columbus and his founding of what is now often referred to as the New World. The book received positive reviews by critics.

Plot

Christopher Columbus, the subject of the book, was an explorer and one of the first European founders of the Americas.

The books topic focuses on Christopher Columbus, who was one of the first European founders of the Americas. The book tells the story of his life, as well as the problems he faced with his journeys. Columbus had seduced some of the most powerful woman in Europe to pay the expenses of his trip.[2] The book follows Columbus' departure from Spain prior to his first voyage before sunrise on August 3, 1492. After three days of sailing on the Pinta, the rudder became loose, unable to cope with the strength of the seas, Columbus and his fleet stayed for a month on the Canary Islands. After repairing the ship, the fleet resumed sailing, despite pleas from fellow crew members for Columbus to turn back, which he ignored. On October 11, 1492, after seeing a distant light, it was later confirmed this was the area which would soon be marked as the New World, claiming the land to for the Spanish sovereigns, as well as claiming numerous other islands for Spain. In reward for this, Columbus was given ten thousand Spanish maravedis and 1/10 of all Royal profits.[2]

Reception

Ben Cosgrove of The San Francisco Chronicle comments "Dugard's book breathes life into that futile, unquenchable, 500-year-old dream. There's adventure for you."[3] Ben Sisario of The New York Times noted about that book that "In a rich, fluent account, Dugard offers both a gripping naval adventure and a revealing history of the competitive mercantile politics of the turn of the 16th century, and portrays Columbus as a star-crossed striver eager to legitimize his quest."[4] James Neal Webb of Book Page comments "The Last Voyage of Columbus, a new book by Martin Dugard, is of the latter variety, and in it we find a figure who, while familiar, is more human and thus more interesting than the Christopher Columbus we know from history textbook."[5]

References

  1. ↑ The Last Voyage of Columbus: Being the Epic Tale of the Great Captain's Fourth Expedition, Including Accounts of Swordfight, Mutiny, Shipwreck, Gold, War, Hurricane and Discovery. Google Book Search. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  2. 1 2 "The Last Voyage of Columbus. THE VOYAGE THE WHOLE WORLD REMEMBERS". Hachette Book Group USA. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  3. ↑ Cosgrove, Ben. "Sailing to the New World, for fourth and final time". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  4. ↑ Sisario, Ben (July 31, 2005). "Nonfiction Chronicle". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  5. ↑ Webb, Neal James. "Sailing with Columbus. REVIEW BY JAMES NEAL WEBB". Book Page. Archived from the original on 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
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