Vanguard of Empire: Ships of Exploration in the Age of Columbus [Hardcover]

Roger C. Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 1993 | ISBN-10: 0195073576 | ISBN-13: 978-0195073577

In this book, Smith has assembled a portrait of the small vessels invented and refined in the shipyards of Spain and Portugal half a millennium ago. He focuses on the advances in maritime technology that made the European conquest of the New World possible. Shipwrights worked by trial and error to make ships that would travel faster and farther, carrying larger and larger cargoes. Pilots developed new methods of celestial navigation and learned the patterns of wind and sea currents. Long voyages taxed the physical and emotional well-being of the crew, requiring new methods of supply and sustenance. In addition to covering these developments, Smith's book shows how ships were built, outfitted, and manned, illustrating what life at sea was like in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Focusing on the advances in maritime technology that made European expansion possible, this book will shed light on a neglected aspect of the European conquest of the New World.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Oxford University Press deserves plaudits for the copy-editing, clear (and copious) line illustrations, and indexes. This is a solidly researched, well-written analysis of an important topic and an invaluable reference work from which historians, archivists, and archaeologists alike will benefit."--American Historical Review

"Vanguard of Empire is a clearly written book and a necessary book to read if one is interested in early modern naval technology. Most people are aware of what the explorers accomplished. Thanks to the work of Smith and the numerous scholars upon whose work he draws, we now know the technological side of how they achieved what they did."--Sixteenth Century Journal

"A fine, well-researched, well-written, and up-to-date endeavor. It is must reading on the ships of discovery."--Choice

"A highly informative review of the published literature about European ships and seafaring...The book makes an important contribution to scholarship by bringing the findings of nautical archaeology into the mainstream of early modern history. It should be a standard work for anyone interested in European exploration and technology."--The American Neptune

"A rewarding and substantial contribution to the literature, and one that makes engaging reading....this is a fine, solid, thoughtful work; the best we have on the subject or are likely to have for some time to come."--Sea History

"This is the first detailed picture of technology that allowed the amazing achievement of discovering and exploring new worlds to take place."--Model Ship Builder

"Well written...provides a wealth of useful documentary and archaeological data on these important vessels."--The Northern Mariner

About the Author

Roger C. Smith, State Underwater Archaeologist, Bureau of Archaeological Research, Florida Department of State.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 8, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195073576
• ISBN-13: 978-0195073577
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,711,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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