New Worlds: The Great Voyages of Discovery 1400-1600

Rating:
Summary: The best book on the age of discovery
Review: "New Worlds" is an unbelievably great book! After reading the recent "Rivers of Gold", I started to look for an up to date overview of the age of discovery. I was especially interested in events prior to the voyages of Columbus and the role of Portugal.

Dr. Fritze offers a balanced and detailed overview that includes Portuguese contributions. But the book goes much farther. It details the European knowledge and mindset prior to exploration. It covers politics, trade, technology and other factors crucial to setting the stage for exploration. The book is lavishly illustrated. It has great charts and maps.

"New Worlds" is the best history book I have read since "Guns, Germs and Steel." It may be better.

Despite searches on Amazon and web searches, I could not find a book remotely covering the age of exploration. "New Worlds" is on Amazon... but it is like finding a needle in a haystack. Luckily I stumbled across "New World's" at the Stanford bookstore.

My kudos to the author. I hope your publisher will find better ways to get the word out. (I'm shocked how clueless they must be about web marketing.)