In this extraordinary, sweeping history, Felipe Fernández-Armesto traces key elements of the modern world back to that single, fateful year. Really amazing to consider how after hundreds of years of isolation, in a span of just a few years so many different populations were ready to embark on geographical expansion. Picked 1492 up to get a little more background on the world of the fifteenth century.
I have never read anything by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto before but I am going to look for more of his histories because this one is spectacular in range and style. People who sense that “modernity” is ending proclaim a “postmodern age.”, “to become a great saint, it is no bad first step to be a big sinner.”, Books About (Or Named After) Single Years, Morgan Jerkins Journeys Across the USA to Retrace Black History. Review by Eva Ulett. An uninspiring effort, despite the evident scholarly legwork.

Browse our magazines. Not what I expected based on the title but was fascinating and kept my interest.

What this book attempts to do, and largely succeeds, is discuss how Columbus' voyage was just one piece in how, in the late 15th century, the world took the shape that it largely holds today: Where Islam spread, and didn't; the rise of Russia as a separate principality; why China didn't become a seafaring power. Equally, his exposition of the economic development of Russia and the territorial expansion of Muscovy is more about the period than about the year. © Copyright 2020 Kirkus Media LLC. The author explored what was happening with the major cultures around the world leading up to discovering the New World as well as just after. MOST of us know, or think we know, what the first Europeans encountered when they began their formal invasion of the Americas in 1492: a pristine world of … I’m an HNS member but I don’t know my username or password. The way he blends the history of various cultures and regions into one harmonious whole with his own inimitable style. All this is very engrossing, but the thesis about the beginning of the modern world becomes less and less convincing. The world didn't begin in 1492, but it was the beginning of the modern world. Well, Frohlich’s novel, “1492” will really put everything in perspective and give you such an interesting back story as to make you really feel that you are there! About a Jew living during Christopher Columbus time. Whether or not Felipe Ferńandez-Armesto convinces with his argument that 1492 was a pivotal year in history, this is a book full of insight into the world and events of the late 15th century. This is a fun history read. Book Review: A People’s History of the United States — from 1492 to the Present by Howard Zinn August 14, 2011 Patrick T Reardon 0 There is much in this book that’s infuriating. Dynamic action scenes abound--from a savage Moslem raid on an unsuspecting Christian town to the bloodbath of the Inquisition, which enriched the Queen's coffers and enabled her to mount an expensive war against the Moslem foothold in Europe, to Court intrigues and the insidious presence of the barefooted Grand Inquisitor Torquemada--but missing from this patchwork are the stitches to bind it all together. He currently serves as the Principe de Asturias Chair in Spanish Culture and Civilization at Tufts University and Professor of Global Environmental H. Born in 1950, Felipe Fernández-Armesto was raised in London by his Spanish born father and British born mother both active journalists. as opposed to actually writing a book. Trouble signing in? Here I mostly review and discuss books (find links to my 'bookshelves' below), but also include occasional commentary on what I've been reading or listening to. Most readers will expect the activities of Columbus to justify the subtitle of the book – “the Year Our World Began”.

Chapters on China and Sound Indian Trade, not to mention a large focus on Sufi mysticism were overloaded with names and events which seemed largely irrelevant. RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 1990. Jumping the gun slightly is this first novel by Frohlich, who in 15 years of preparation has at least given himself time and opportunity to get his facts straight. Well the reason is that some parts are more interesting than others. It was a little tough to get through the book. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Columbus set sail with a letter of introduction to the Great Khan of China, the last of whom had actually been unseated over a century earlier, in 1368. The author explored what was happening with the major cultures around the world leading up to discovering the New World as well as just after. It is clearly and concisely written with interesting characters who live, love and fight across a very wide canvas. 1492 A Novel of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish Inquisition and a World At the Turning Point by Newton Frohlich Book Review by Frank Ioele in Gay Travelers Magazine Events that began in 1492 transformed the whole ecological system of the planet. Felipe Ferńandez-Armesto’s contention in 1492: The Year the World Began is that in the titular year events occurred that shaped the global community we live in today. He has interesting insights into the character of Columbus, a fantasist who believed his forebears included other admirals and an egomaniac who insisted that he, and not the man in the crow’s nest, had been the one to sight land first after the voyage across the Atlantic. Everything changed in 1492: the way power and wealth were distributed around the globe, the way major religions and civilizations divided the world, and the increasing interconnectedness of separate economies that we now call globalization. There's an evocative description of Shen Zhou painting 'The Night Vigil' in war-ravaged Japan. The chapter on Africa is particularly strong, Indochina gets more cursory attention and I don't remember much if anything on Burma. Error rating book. Help! Our individualism and the very sense we share of inhabiting one world, as partakers in a common humanity, took shape and became visible in 1492. This survey of the world in 1492, only spent one chapter on Columbus's discovery and one chapter Ivan the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, whose conquests and consolidations formed modern Russia. Be the first to ask a question about 1492.

“In this admirable history, Fernández-Armesto has written a book of travels not unlike those of Marco Polo, filled with marvels and sensations, rich in description and replete with anecdote. In 1492, well, we all know what Columbus did. The race is on to participate in the quincentennial of Christopher Columbus's search for the nonstop express route to China. The writing is choppy at times, but there is a lot to learn from this book. 1492 may seem a date both too distant and too specific to bear the claim of being the year in which the world began to shrink, to experience a convergence of peoples and cultures, but Ferńandez-Armesto presents a fascinating case. But it was really much more. Rather dismissive of people, culture and change as randomness more than directedness.

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