Customer Reviews

The Worlds of Christopher Columbus

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William and Carla Rhan Phillips have done a marvelous job of helping the reader understand the workings of the world of the 15th century. They have divided their book into three major sections; the first sets the stage for the reader by describing the events which made the voyages of discovery possible. The second section recounts the details of the actual voyages of Christopher Columbus, and the third section discusses the aftermath of his discoveries. The Phillips' cover a wide range of subjects, from the "Columbus legends" taught to us as children to the detailed evolution of ship building and navigational tools. Also discussed are the politics of the time, the religious beliefs, common knowledge of the period and more. (It is surprising how many of us were taught that Columbus was the only man of the period who believed the earth was round.) Columbus was not an accomplished scholar or a misunderstood genius for he held wildly inaccurate views of the world, his belief that he had discovered Asia never faltered. In this book you will get a feel for the evolution of maritime technology; how Columbus sought and gained financial support for his explorations on behalf of Spain; details of the actual outfitting and explorations of the four voyages made by Columbus. You will learn why the Phillips' described Columbus as a "masterful salesman" who exaggerated his discoveries. There are many books about Columbus, each written from different angles and differing bias, but I felt this book was well researched, well documented, and fair minded. So saying, I came away feeling that Columbus was a daring mariner, that he was an inept administrator who openly disobeyed royal instructions and that he brought many of his troubles upon himself. Yet by putting him into the context of his time they have softened the harsh edges of his character flaws. I would definitely recommend this work to anyone who wishes to get a well documented account of the worlds of Christopher Columbus.

Afraid that the backlash against an exaggerated hero worship of an often idealized Columbus will lead to a new and equally false myth of Columbus as simple villain, the authors systematically reconstruct the intelllectual atmosphere of 15th century Europeans. The widespread obsessions with religion, trade, Spanish empire building, and bureaucratic organizations are meticulously documented.

The Worlds of Christopher Columbus stands out as a balanced, fair, and well-researched work examining the life and legacy of Columbus within the context of his times, European exploration, Christian theology, and the search for quicker/safer trade routes. The book combines a wide variety of sources and perspectives as it chronicles Columbus' four voyages, and many more controversies, to the New World.

The authors, both historians at University of Minnesota, essentially argue that Columbus reflected the basic assumptions of his era like "a prism" combining ambition, zealous Christianity, and excellent navigation skills. The right man at the right place and time, Columbus sought recognition for opening Asia to trade and the expansion of Christianity. Ironically, Coulumbus always passionately condemned the idea that his "his world" was a "new continent." This valuable work brings new insights to the gradual evolution in Columbus goals, from Asian trading and building African style trading posts to island colonization. Columbus' decision to make slavery an economic cornerstone of Spain's new territories recevies special attention. (Queen Isabella, of Spanish Inquistion fame, opposed the enslavement of native tribespeople for religious reasons.)

In The Worlds of Christopher Columbus, William D. Phillips, Jr. and Carla Rahn Phillips place Columbus in a broad world context. Phillips and Phillips discuss Columbus and his travels across the Atlantic as a part of a larger inclination of movement in Europe to other parts of the world. By examining Columbus and European society in broader historical and geographic contexts, Phillips and Phillips show that Columbus's voyage across the Atlantic was not a unique event but rather a "continuation of a centuries-old human process of exploration and migration." (1) Before 1492, Europeans met and dealt with peoples "in pursuit of wealth and in service to a militant Christianity." (1) Columbus's voyage west was an attempt to continue what Europeans had done for centuries.

I give the volume 4 stary because of one minor limitation in the volume: the authors' use of a collective "European" mentality and culture. By using "European" instead of particular nations in Europe (or other identities), Phillips and Phillips portray expansion and exploration as a cooperative venture instead of a competition among European states. Instead, the authors should discuss the respective differences among the European nations and their respective economic, geographic, and historical situations. To understand why Spain and Portugal, and not Britain or France, for example, succeeded in exploration in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, these respective countries must be examined on their own, and not hidden by an all-encompassing "European" geographic and historical concept.

Overall, the volume helps to deflect the exceptionalism that usually comes with any discussion of Columbus by placing him and his voyages in broader historical developments.

In The Worlds of Christopher Columbus, the intent of the authors is clearly stated from the beginning: to tell us how Columbus's voyage across the Atlantic forever changed the world by bringing into contact two different "worlds" that were previously unknown to each other. In the process, William D. Phillips and Carla Rahn Phillips give a credulous and expansive overview of the context in which Columbus's voyages were made, and the immediate and long-term effects of his trans-Atlantic travel. They are also careful to portray Columbus as a real human being, with both strengths and weaknesses.

To set the scene for Columbus's voyage, the first three chapters are dedicated to describing the changing world of Europe, both socially and economically. They describe a world where states were more likely to be united by their religion rather than politics, with the pope more powerful than any sovereign in Europe. Europe, Asia and Africa, while known to one another, were largely separated by culture and religion. Trade was controlled by Muslim merchants keeping Europeans from Asia and the east coast of Africa. But, the authors tell us, Europeans, through the Crusades, had been re-exposed to Asia, and were tantalized by its perceived offerings. The plague, while a human tragedy that wiped out between one-fourth and one-third of the population, offered new economic opportunities for those who survived because labor was much in demand. Because there were fewer people, there was more wealth among them, creating both the desire for exotic spices and fabrics of the east, and the means to acquire them. The authors discuss all of this, along with the emergence of the printing press and the ability to obtain both books and knowledge, as the world in which Columbus lived.

After discussing these "Old Worlds in Isolation," as chapter two is titled, the authors then expand on the quest for European trade, and discuss the motivations of Europeans for Christianizing the world. They are careful to point out, however, that the majority of the population was not concerned with these grand ambitions; these people were more concerned with making a living and surviving day-to-day. Despite this, the authors explain, the goal of many monarchs was to convert the world by sending missionaries to non-believers; the added benefit of defeating Islam was an equally powerful goal.

Columbus could not have been successful without certain advances in technology, covered in chapter four, "Tools of Expansion." Here, the importance of newer techniques in shipbuilding is discussed, including the hybridization of the old square sail with the newer lateen sails, multiple masts for these different sails, and the emergence of the caravel. These changes, along with the "newer" instruments of navigation (magnetic compass, sea charts, astrolabe) made exploration of the seas possible. Before these were available, sailing out of sight of land was a treacherous affair. One more tool was needed for Columbus to succeed in his quest: the global map of the world, where the North and South American hemispheres were conspicuous by their absence. The authors note that while there is no known contact between Martin Behaim and Columbus, their globes are nearly identical, which is a reflection of the available geographical information of that era.

After describing the fifteenth century world for us in such depth, the authors then give us a biographical account of Christopher Columbus's life. They begin with his early years in Genoa and Portugal, but are careful to point out what is written based upon reasonable speculation and what is written based upon actual fact. While it is important to get a sense of who Columbus was based on his background, his marriage to a woman descended from one of Henry the Navigator's explorers stands out - here, Columbus the ambitious navigator who desires to explore a western route to China has aligned himself with a woman who provides him with inherited maps of a previous maritime explorer.

The subsequent biography traces the difficulties Columbus has securing royal support for his ambitions - first approaching the king of Portugal and then the king and queen of Spain - his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, and his second and third voyages as well. The authors portray Columbus's humanity all too evidently in his need to exaggerate his findings and to justify his return trips; they also make it clear that while Columbus is more than competent to sail across the Atlantic and to explore the lands he finds there, he is not a very effective leader, nor is he suited to the administration of running a colonial government. This plays no small part in his diminishing importance to Isabel and Fernando, until in the end, he is stripped of the power of the titles they bestowed upon him. As a final chapter, the authors include a survey of the immediate ramifications of Columbus's first voyage to the globalization that is taken for granted today.

Overall, this is a well-written account by two skilled historian authors. Their sources, both primary and secondary, are numerous, and when they are suspect, the authors point this out. This is especially true of the biography written by Hernando Colón, where it is speculated that the first half of this book may not have been written by him, but in any event, has no factual evidence to back up any claims made there. The authors are also sure to point out, in the first chapter, the issues that arise when writing about Columbus, whether his explorations were heroic or if his importance was over-estimated. They discuss the importance of objectively examining any historical person of interest within their own world, rather than with the current political parameters. Last, they discuss the need to keep Columbus in context for a better understanding of what he accomplished, and what he himself believed to have accomplished. All of this makes The Worlds of Columbus a skillfully written and interesting biography of a sometimes controversial figure in western culture.