Customer Reviews

Admiral Of The Ocean Sea - A Life Of Christopher Columbus

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This was one of the most enjoyable biographies I've read. The most distinguishing thing about this book of course is the fact that Morison recreated the voyages before his writing the book. This recreation lends credibility to his writing. But more than that, it makes much of the book, particularly those parts at sea, seem as if the reader is experiencing the voyages through the person of Columbus. Not only the particulars of what he saw, but the smells of land breezes, the feel of the trade winds, the motion of the boat. Morison's obvious love of the sea and of sailing work very much in his favor. Another strength is the historical perspective carefully provided by Morison. Knowing what was going on with Catholic Spain during Columbus' life (the defeat of the Moors, the expulsion of the Jews, political intrigue and conflict involving France, England, Portugal, and others) helps to explain the motivations of Columbus and his contemporaries. I was a bit wary of a 60-year old book, Pulitzer or no Pulitzer, in light of the more recent reconsiderations of Columbus. Some people would have us believe that the voyage of 1492 was some sort of original sin inflicted upon the paradise that was the western hemisphere. But in his preface, Morison makes it clear that he is concerned with Columbus, the "man of action", and is leaving analyses of his motivations to others. And at any rate, Morison's sensibilities are very much in tune with those of the year 2000. He makes few apologies for Columbus and takes him to task where warranted, particularly for his treatment of the natives. One chapter, "Hell in Hispaniola", is almost exclusively devoted to this area. One word of warning: If your knowledge of sailing isn't good, then you may want to bone up on some of the rudiments before starting this book. Morison provides an explanation of some of the terminology, but not enough for someone who knows as little about sailing as I did coming in. But please don't be put off by that - this book is a real pleasure.

Samuel Eliot Morison's Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus won the Pulitzer Prize in 1942, and does not seem the least dated 55 years later. What sets Morison's biography apart from most is that Morison himself is a sailor, and he draws on his own knowledge of ships, currents, and men to bring Columbus to life. Morison (and, through him, his reader) is constantly amazed at how good Columbus was at dead reckoning in unknown waters, and what a superb handler of ships and men he was. However, this is not a hagiography, and Morison does not shy away from Columbus' lapses in judgment (to the end, he convinced himself that he had reached the Indies) and mistakes. Six years ago, of course, was the 500th anniversary of Columbus' initial voyage, and I remember a deluge of articles and books -- mostly attacking dead white European males -- being published to note the event. I suspect that Morison's biography was roundly attacked at that time. I would be interested to dig up those books and articles to see what they say. For me, however, regardless of the current fashions or trends of scholarship, Morison's biography remains a marvelous tale, stunningly told. I recommend this book highly!

I knew a fair amount about the first voyage of Columbus from the perspective of the political and the historical but very little about the voyage itself or the man Columbus. The Admiral of the Ocean Sea is an excellent source for information on all of the voyages themselves as well as the general information from a historical point of view.

Morison does an excellent job of describing the man Columbus. While many people in our own century will have a very difficult time seeing him as a man of morals due to the manner in which treated non-European people, Morison shows us a picture of a man consumed with the understanding of morality in his day. The lengths that Columbus went to attain piety are rarely taught or written of today and I found the sections dealing with these very informative.

I also found the description of the sailing vessels and of the conditions of the sailors to be quite interesting. The majority of the material dealing with sailing itself (a good part of the book) I lacked sufficient understanding to really enjoy. I know little of navigation and little of astronomy so celestial observations are bit beyond me. However I was able to understand in general terms the result (ie Columbus was off a lot or a little)

While I had learned a great deal about the dealing of later explorers with the Indians I knew little of the first explorers relations with them. Naturally what I learned about the Spaniards did not surprise me. What did surprise me was how many times traveling along the various coasts the Spaniards met with hostile locals. True most of the Indians were friendly to their own detriment but some did indeed show a little fight.

Also The Admiral of the Ocean Sea does a really good job of placing the events of the discovery of America into their proper context. The Spanish inquisition was in full swing. The Crusades were a part of recent history and the intermingling of European royal blood for political purposes was at its height.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a balanced biography of Columbus. Afterall it won the Pulitzer for a reason.

I have had this book on my shelf for quite a while, and finally got around to reading it after watching a documentary on Columbus on the Discivery Channel. I got inspired to overcome my intellectual laziness, and how pleased I am I did! This book really deserves its reputation as a timeless classic, and the author, a giant of maritime history, did such a fine job that I now want to read his well known biography of John Paul Jones. The text is gripping and the author's insights abound. This is a fine book.

I bought the Spanish version of the book more than twenty years ago and read it several times. I have often used it for information on articles about the discovery of America and Venezuela. I am now writing for an English-language Venezuelan newspaper and, since the original book was written in English, it will be even more useful for me in the original language. The most important merit of the book, apart from Morison's clear, concise writing style, is the fact that he followed Columbus' routes to determine the exactness of the information provided by the Admiral's log, specially during the third trip, when he discovered Venezuela -or what is now called so. Actually, that was the real date of discovery of the continent. Up to then, Columbus had discovered Caribbean islands. It was only after he left the Venezuelan Continental mainland that he began to realize that he "could have found a new continent" as Morison points out in his book. I am putting an order for the English version of the book.

This book is the definitive work on Columbus. Morison is famous for making the same journey that Columbus made with largely the same equipment in order to prepare for writing this book. His experience shines through in the detail thatMorison lavishes on his subject.

As is the case with any great biography, Morison has become enamored with his subject, highlighting his strengths and successes while downplaying his weaknesses and failures, but you know that going into any biography and can adjust your interpretation accordingly.

The story here is told very well, keeping the reader engaged and turning pages. Additionally, the book dispells many of the myths and common misconceptions about Columbus and really fills in a complete picure of the man.

Well worth reading for any fan of history or biography.

This remains the definitive biography of Columbus. Morison was one of the greatest historians ever to practice the craft--his scholarship still holds up today. He was also a master of the written word, unlike most professional historians today.

Morison enumerates the reasons why he admires Columbus, but he also catalogs the man's misdeeds--for example, Morison uses the word "genocide" to describe Columbus's treatment of the Indians as governor of Hispaniola. Morison gives his readers the facts they need to form their own opinion of Columbus. (I do not share Morison's admiration for the man.)

I must correct the astonishingly ignorant remarks of the reviewer who identified himself as "A reader from New York City" and entitled his review "So much ignorance my God..."

Here goes:

1) The reviewer asserted that Morison was not, in fact, an admiral. Actually, Morison did receive the title. FDR made Morison an honorary admiral when he commissioned the scholar to write the naval history of the US role in WWII. (Morison produced a 12-volume epic. It's still in print.)

2) The reviewer regurgitates a number of questions about Columbus's origins that he apparently drew from another book by a revisionist historian (Kirkpatrick Sale?). The questions the reviewer repeats are good ones, but they are questions that remain open because the evidence to answer them conclusively probably does not exist. If the reviewer were a trained historian, he might understand that.

Morison wrote this fine book in honor of the 450'th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America. I think Morison would be surprised at how people's perceptions of the event have changed in the decades since.
First off, let me say that the book is well worth reading. Morison was a man of the sea himself and he sailed in the same waters as Columbus. We see in the book how Columbus was a master seaman as well as being a great salesman, but on the other hand he was a poor geographer and even worse politician. The Portuguese were right in turning down his proposal for the Enterprise of the Indies, their geographers knew that Columbus was way off the mark regarding the distance from Europe to East Asia. In any event, they were making good progress down Africa and they felt it was just a matter of time until they found the bottom of the continent and the entrance to the Indian Ocean.

I would now like to address the change in fortune for Columbus's reputation.

(1) People now like to say that he didn't "discover" America. One reason is because there were already people (the American Indians) there, but that is simply world-games. Of course he "discovered" it, no one in Europe or Asia knew about it, and the Indians didn't know about Europe or Asia either. Secondly, the fact that Columbus wasn't necessarily the first to cross the Atlantic doesn't change anything. The Vikings who reached North America simply viewed it as another Arctic land and had no idea of the geographical relationship of this new continent to the rest of the world. In any event, they didn't exploit their discovery in the long run, only Columbus's voyage led to that. It is also speculated that Portuguese fisherman were crossing the Atlantic before Columbus, after all, they discovered the Azores already in the 1420's (already one-third of the way across the Atlantic) but we don't know if they sighted the continent, and even if they did, they, like the Vikings didn't do anything to exploit their knowledge.

(2) People say that he is responsible for the destruction of the Indian society that existed on Hispaniola. It certainly wasn't his original intention to do this. He wanted to convert the natives to Christianity, so killing them off wouldn't help this mission. Morison himself points out that Columbus did contribute to this tragedy, but even if Columbus had been more careful, I think the Indians would have had the same fate. The settlers that came in the wake of the discovery brought new plants and animals in addition to previously unknown diseases and all these things would have grievously damaged the Indians agricultural system and society. Add to this the Spaniard's missionary religion which no doubt was attractive to at least some of the native population and we see that things could just not remain the same.
(3) Some people claim the pre-Columbian New World was some sort of paradise that the Europeans ruined. This is also knows as the myth of the "noble savage". Unfortunatley it is just a myth because human nature is the same all over the world. Greed, cruelty, avarice and the such are not just European or Western traits. The Carib tribes who inhabited the Caribbean Sea (and gave it its name) were very warlike and fought other, more peaceful tribes. Similarly, the Mexica (also knows as the Aztec) the Hernan Cortes conquered in the wake of Columbus was hated by its Indian neighbors for supressing them and taking prisoners for the human sacrificial system. Thus, we should be more realistic in evaluating the pre-Columbian societies and remove the "politically correct" rose-colored glasses.

(3) While it is true that slaves from Africa were brought over to Hispaniola, it must be remembered that the European slave traders who brought them over to the New World did not land in West Africa and grab natives "off the streets". They bought them from local African chiefs who captured prisoners in their local wars and then sold them to the Europeans. Thus, regarding the cruelty of the slavery system, there is plenty of blame to go around and not just to the white men involved.

All-in-all, this is a very enjoyable book to read about a man, who perhaps more than any other single person, brought about the most massive revolution in human history.

"Admiral of the Ocean Sea", Samuel Morison's 1942 Pulitzer Prize winning biography of Christopher Columbus, is still considered by many to be the best there is. Morison spent 2 years on a sailboat re-tracing Columbus' voyages bringing a first hand immediacy and perspective that gives it unusual authority on all technical aspects of sailing and navigation. In addition Morison was a Harvard history professor whose research of the written record is impeccable. Even before Columbus died in the early 16th century, there have been countless controversies and debates about many aspects of his life and voyages. Into this maelstrom of legend, myth and folklore - like the discover he writes about - Morison brings order, calm and reliable passage for one of the most fascinating and mythological figures of World History.

Morison's pulitzer prize winning work is an engaging, balanced, well written look at the life of the great explorer. The emphasis of the book is on Columbus, the mariner.(Morrison, a Harvard professor with a sailing background, actually retraced Columbus journeys in his own sailing craft). I was interested in finding a fair and objective historical biography of Columbus (without all the negative, politically correct, anti-European propoganda that permeates the thinking of modern leftist academics).In my opinion, this book provides it. I would highly recommend this work for students of history, who want to gain a better appreciation of the nature and significance of Columbus Voyages.