The Race to the New World - Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, and a Lost History of Discovery

The final decade of the 15th century was a turning point in world history. The Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus sailed westward on the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, famously determined to discover for Spain a shorter and more direct route to the riches of the Indies. Meanwhile, a fellow Italian explorer for hire, John Cabot, set off on his own journey, under England's flag. Here, Douglas Hunter tells the fascinating tale of how, during this expedition, Columbus gained a rival. In the space of a few critical years, these two men engaged in a high-stakes race that threatened the precarious diplomatic balance of Europe--to exploit what they believed was a shortcut to staggering wealth. Instead, they found a New World that neither was looking for.Douglas Hunter provides a revelatory look at how the lives of Columbus and Cabot were interconnected, and that neither explorer can be understood properly without understanding both. Together, Cabot and Columbus provide a novel and important perspective on the first years of European experience of the New World. The final decade of the 15th century was a turning point in world history. The Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus sailed westward on the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, famously determined to discover for Spain a shorter and more direct route to the riches of the Indies. Meanwhile, a fellow Italian explorer for hire, John Cabot, set off on his own journey, under England's flag. Here, Douglas Hunter tells the fascinating tale of how, during this expedition, Columbus gained a rival. In the space of a few critical years, these two men engaged in a high-stakes race that threatened the precarious diplomatic balance of Europe—to exploit what they believed was a shortcut to staggering wealth. Instead, they found a New World that neither was looking for. Douglas Hunter provides a revelatory look at how the lives of Columbus and Cabot were interconnected, and that neither explorer can be understood properly without understanding both. Together, Cabot and Columbus provide a novel and important perspective on the first years of European experience of the New World. The final decade of the 15th century was a turning point in world history. The Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus sailed westward on the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, famously determined to discover for Spain a shorter and more direct route to the riches of the Indies. Meanwhile, a fellow Italian explorer for hire, John Cabot, set off on his own journey, under England's flag. Here, Douglas Hunter tells the fascinating tale of how, during this expedition, Columbus gained a rival. In the space of a few critical years, these two men engaged in a high-stakes race that threatened the precarious diplomatic balance of Europe—to exploit what they believed was a shortcut to staggering wealth. Instead, they found a New World that neither was looking for. Douglas Hunter provides a revelatory look at how the lives of Columbus and Cabot were interconnected, and that neither explorer can be understood properly without understanding both. Together, Cabot and Columbus provide a novel and... HIS051000,HIS010000 Christopher Columbus and his lesser known rival, fellow Italian explorer for hire John Cabot, were both searching for a shortcut to the riches of the Indies, instead they found a New World they were not looking for. This revelatory look at how their lives intersected provides a fresh insight into a turning point in world history. Reveals the intertwined lives of Columbus and Cabot, and how their race to riches threatened Europe's balance of power and ended in a way that no one had predicted