Age of Exploration (1450-1700) - Exodus Books

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The early history of New World exploration reads like an old-style fantasy novel. Men from Europe literally traversed the North American continent looking for things like the City of Gold and the Fountain of Youth. With such a vast terrain ripe for discovery, there was really no way to prove those things couldn't be found, though not even someone as diligent as Juan Ponce de Leon was able to find any trace of such mystical destinations.

What they found instead was firm ground, mountains, jungles, rivers, deserts, exotic animals, and native inhabitants sometimes happy to greet them, sometimes happy to attack the newcomers. There are a lot of opinions and versions about the European exploration of North and South America, some of them accepted as standard, a few relegated to the conspiracy theorists' corner of shame, and one or two downright shocking.

Most historians agree that the initial Spanish and Portuguese insurgence, particularly in South and Central America, was occasioned primarily by greed and political jockeying. The big villain of this period was Hernan Cortes, a Spaniard who dealt freely in death, communicable disease, treachery, and gold between the Aztec empire and his own nation. It was said he pilfered so much gold his ships sank under it on the return journey.

Christopher Columbus has fared slightly better in the annals of history, though even his methods and motivations have fallen under suspicion. That he claimed the work of a missionary is now seen more as a burden for the Christian community to explain than as a noble mark in his favor. He also took gold, swapped diseases with the Indians, and provoked many to combat.

So what's the truth of all this? Are Europeans just a bunch of terrible people out to exploit everyone else? Is this merely liberal revisionism? The truth (as usual) is probably somewhere in between. Many of the explorers were pretty ruthless, but then again, the kind of personality that could accomplish something as arduous as the years-long journey to an unknown part of the world is bound to have some equally heroic flaws.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

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	Admiral of the Ocean Sea A Life of Christopher Columbus by Samuel E. Morison from Atlantic Monthly Press for 9th-Adult in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Age of Exploration Great Ages of Man by John R. Hale from Time-Life Books for 9th-Adult in Great Ages of Man (Location: ADU-HISGAM) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Big Golden Book of Christopher Columbus and Other Early Adventurers by Russell Bourne, illustrated by Thomas LaPadula from Golden Books for 3rd-6th grade in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Captain Cook R. N. the Resolute Mariner An International Record of Oceanic Discovery by Thomas Vaughan and A. A. St. C. M. Murray-Oliver from Oregon Historical Society Press Museum Exhibition Catalog for Adult in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Captive by Scott O'Dell from HMH Books for Young Readers for 5th-8th grade Hans Christian Anderson Award in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Christopher Columbus His World, His Faith, His Adventures by Elaine Murray Stone 500 Anv from Tyndale House Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $4.88 (1 in stock)
	Christopher Columbus Sowers Biographies by Bennie Rhodes from Mott Media for 4th-6th grade in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Christopher Columbus and His Brothers by Amy Hogeboom from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Columbus: The Triumphant Failure by Oliver Postgate & Naomi Linnell from Franklin Watts for 2nd-5th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $7.50 (1 in stock)
	DK Atlas of Exploration by Anita Ganeri, Andrea MIlls from DK Publishing for 4th-6th grade in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER) $14.00 (2 in stock)
	DK Eyewitness: Explorer by Rupert Matthews from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 4th-8th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	DK Eyewitness: Explorer DK Eyewitness Series by Rupert Matthews 1^st edition from DK Publishing HIstory Reference for 4th-8th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Empires Lost and Won by Albert Marrin 1^st edition from Atheneum for 5th-12th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $14.00 (1 in stock)
	Exploration and Conquest The Americas After Columbus: 1500-1620 by Betsy & Giulio Maestro 1^st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books for 3rd-7th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Exploration and Conquest The Americas After Columbus: 1500-1620 by Betsy & Giulio Maestro 1^st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books for 3rd-7th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Explorers Great Tales of Adventure and Endurance by Alasdair Macleod from DK Publishing for 5th-12th grade in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER) $20.00 (1 in stock)
	Explorers & Discoverers - 4 Volume Set From Alexander the Great to Sally Ride from UXL Publishing biographical encyclopedia for 5th-8th grade in World History Reference (Location: HISW-REF) $30.00 (1 in stock)
	Friar and the Knight Padre Olmedo and Cortez by Flora Strousse, illustrated by William Wilson from P.J. Kenedy & Sons for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Golden Book History of the United States - 12 Volume Set by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Alton S. Tobey and Richard P. Kluga from Golden Press for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $56.25 (1 in stock)
	Great Adventures That Changed Our World The World's Great Explorers, Their Triumphs and Tragedies from Reader's Digest for 10th-Adult in Modern History (Location: HISW-MOD) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Great Explorers by Joyce Grosseck & Elizabeth Attwood for 4th-8th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	History of Human Society: Pioneer America The History of Human Society by John R. Alden 1^st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 10th-Adult in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	How Our Nation Began Christian Social History Series by Don Sharkey, Sister Margaret, and Rt. Rev. Msgr. Philip J. Furlong from W. H. Sadlier for 2nd-4th grade in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	If You Were There in 1492 by Barbara Brenner 1st ed from Bradbury Press for 3rd-5th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Juan Ponce de Leon by Tamara Green from World Almanac Library for 2nd-4th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Long and Uncertain Journey The 27,000-Mile Voyage of Vasco da Gama by Joan Goodman, Illustrated by Tom McNeely from Mikaya Press for 3rd-8th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Marco Polo and the Medieval Explorers by Rebecca Stefoff from Chelsea House Publishing Biography for 4th-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $7.00 (2 in stock)
	Meet Christopher Columbus by James de Kay from Random House Biography for 3rd-6th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $2.00 (2 in stock)
	National Geographic Society Exploration Experience The Heroic Exploits of the World's Greatest Explorers by Beau Riffenburgh from National Geographic for 6th-Adult in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $20.00 (1 in stock)
	Prince Henry the Navigator by Leonard Everett Fisher 1^st edition from Atheneum for 2nd-5th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Real Book About Explorers by Irvin Block, illustrated by Jules Gotlieb from Garden City Books for 3rd-6th grade in Real Books series (Location: VIN-RBA) $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Sailing the Unknown Around the World with Captain Cook by Michael Rosen, Illustrated by Maria Cristina Pritelli from Creative Editions for Kindergarten-2nd grade in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP) $7.50 (1 in stock)
	Samuel De Champlain Father of New France by Samuel E. Morison from Little, Brown & Company for 9th-Adult in Biographies (Location: BIO) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Ship's Boy with Magellan by Milton Lomask, illustrated by William Plummer from Doubleday & Company for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $15.00 (1 in stock)
	Sieur de La Salle New World Adventurer by John Paul Zronik from Crabtree Publishing for 3rd-8th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Sir Walter Ralegh and the Quest for El Dorado by Marc Aronson from Clarion Books for 7th-9th grade 2001 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $21.99 $8.50 (2 in stock)
	Story of Marquette and Jolliet by R. Conrad Stein from Children's Press for 4th-6th grade in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Streams to the River, River to the Sea A Novel of Sacagawea by Scott O'Dell from Houghton Mifflin Historical Fiction for 7th-9th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Tomatoes, Potatoes, Corn, and Beans by Sylvia A. Johnson 1^st edition from Atheneum for 3rd-7th grade in Food & Farming Around the World (Location: HISMC-FOOD) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Vast Horizons by Mary Seymour Lucas, illustrated by C. B. Falls from Viking Press for 5th-10th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $18.75 (1 in stock)
	Voyage of the Challenger by Eric Linklater from Doubleday & Company for 8th-Adult in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Westward With Columbus Set sail on the voyage that changed the world by John Dyson from Scholastic Inc. for 4th-6th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus? by Jean Fritz childrens book from Putnam Juvenile for 2nd-4th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	World Made New Why the Age of Exploration Happened & How it Changed the World by Marc Aronson & John W. Glenn from National Geographic for 3rd-7th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $17.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)