Felipe Fernández-Armesto ist ein renommierter Historiker, dessen umfangreiches Werk vielfältige Themen abdeckt, von der amerikanischen Geschichte bis zur spanischen Armada. Seine Forschung zeichnet sich durch eine tiefgreifende Auseinandersetzung mit globalen Perspektiven und der Vernetzung verschiedener Kulturen und Zivilisationen aus. In seinen Schriften erforscht er die komplexe Beziehung zwischen Menschheit und Umwelt und bietet eine einzigartige Perspektive auf die Entwicklung der Weltgeschichte. Seine unermüdliche Forschung und sein Beitrag zum historischen Diskurs machen ihn zu einer bedeutenden Persönlichkeit auf diesem Gebiet.
How could Geraldine resist the invitation from charming and enigmatic Ellis, especially as it includes travel on a private plane?It will be a glamorous change from her increasingly chaotic life, and a chance to meet his friends, as they reunite at their oldcollege in Indiana for a football game. Not that Geraldine is interested in sport, unless shopping counts. She’s jet-set readyand eager for take off. What can possibly go wrong?
A lucid, entertaining and story-filled romp through 400 years of Latin American and Spanish history.
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Beyond the Myth of Magellan
In this biography, celebrated historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto meticulously scrutinizes surviving sources to reveal the true life of Ferdinand Magellan. The narrative he uncovers is stranger, darker, and more compelling than the celebrated fictional accounts. Contrary to popular belief, Magellan did not successfully complete a journey around the globe; during his lifetime, he was seen as a traitor, tyrant, and a failure. The book untangles the myths that transformed him into a hero, exposing the reality of his character and the passions that drove him toward adventure and disaster. It explores the evolution of his traits: pride turned to arrogance, daring to recklessness, determination to ruthlessness, romanticism to irresponsibility, and superficial piety to irrational exaltation in adversity. As the true Magellan emerges, so do his genuine ambitions, which were less about circumnavigating the world or dominating the spice market and more focused on exploiting Filipino gold. This work serves as a study in failure and highlights the paradox of Magellan's career, illustrating that renown does not always equate to merit but is often shaped by circumstance.
An extraordinary journey through the history of human imagination, from the dawn of civilisation to the present day
We are a weird species. Like other species, we have a culture. But by comparison with other species, we are strangely unstable: human cultures self-transform, diverge, and multiply with bewildering speed. They vary, radically and rapidly, from time to time and place to place. And the way we live - our manners, morals, habits, experiences, relationships, technology, values - seems to be changing at an ever accelerating pace. The effects can be dislocating, baffling,sometimes terrifying. Why is this? In A Foot in the River, best-selling historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto sifts through the evidence.
In 1507, European cartographers faced the challenge of naming the newly discovered lands of the Western Hemisphere, ultimately settling on "America" in honor of the obscure Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci. Award-winning scholar Felipe Fernández-Armesto explores the question “What’s in a name?” through a vibrant narrative of Vespucci's life. We see Amerigo as a complex figure: a slaver, jewel trader, rival of Columbus, and amateur sorcerer who gained fame through a series of failures and reinventions. This engaging account transports readers from Medicean Florence to the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, and across the Atlantic to the New World, where fortune favored the bold. Vespucci emerges as an emblematic figure of the age of exploration, reflecting the fast-paced, competitive, and acquisitive spirit of his time. His legendary self-promotion led to a hemisphere bearing his name, despite his not being its discoverer. Fernández-Armesto reveals Vespucci as not only a relentless salesman but also a man of remarkable abilities, courage, and cunning. This biography finally does justice to both the man and his extraordinary era, offering insights into the cultural transmission that linked his name to the continents discovered in the 1490s.
The book offers a groundbreaking perspective on world exploration, examining the journeys of pathfinders over the last five millennia. It highlights how these explorers established connections between distant corners of the globe, presenting a comprehensive history that integrates diverse cultures and regions. Fernández-Armesto's work is acclaimed for its ambitious scope and ability to contextualize exploration within a global framework, setting a new benchmark in historical scholarship.
In 1507 the cartographer Martin Waldseemuller published a world map with a new continent on it which he called America', after the explorer and navigator Amerigo Vespucci. The map was a phenomenal success and when Mercator's 1538 world map extended the name to the northern hemisphere of the continent, the new name was secure, even though Waldseemuller himself soon realised he had picked the wrong man. This is the story of how one side of the world came to be named not after its discoverer Christopher Columbus, but after his friend and rival Amerigo Vespucci. Born in Florence in 1454 Vespucci had spent his youth as a dealer or agent for the great Medici family. Then in 1491 he followed his fellow-Italian Columbus to Seville. In Seville he continued as a Florentine agent but also helped Columbus get his ships ready for his second and third voyages. Although Amerigo himself later sailed on at least two voyages of his own and explored the coast of present-day Brazil, he excelled above all at self-invention and self-promotion. He saw himself as an explorer and navigator of genius, and his colourful travel writings sold much better than those of Columbus. He became Pilot Major of Spain in 1508 and died in 1512. Fernanzez-Armesto knows this period exceptionally well and he brings wonderfully to life the world of navigators, shipwrights, explorers, cartographers, agents, financiers and fixers
