A magisterial cultural history

A dazzling history of the pre-Columbian Atlantic seas that begins with the formation of the mid-Atlantic ridge 200 million years ago and ends with the Castilian conquest of the Canary Islands in the 15th century.

John Haywood eloquently argues that the perception of Atlantic history beginning with the first voyage of the celebrated Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus is a mistaken one, and that the seafaring and shipbuilding skills that enabled European global exploration and expansion did not arrive fully formed in the fifteenth century, but instead were learned over centuries and millennia in the Atlantic and its peripheral seas. The pre-Columbian history of the Atlantic is the story of how Europeans learned to master the oceans.

Review Quote

"The graphical format of this history of mankind allows one to view happenings in one part of the world and then see other events at the same time in different areas of the world. Unique and refreshing. Illustrations and maps peppered throughout make accessing the information enticing and easy." ―The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Additional Book Details