1492: The Year the Four Corners of the Earth Collided

by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto

Overview

A study of events of 1492 and how they affect the global community of the world of today.

The world would end in 1492—so the prophets, soothsayers and stargazers said. They were right. Their world did end. But ours began.

In search of the origins of the modern world, 1492 takes readers on a journey around the globe of the time, in the company of real-life travellers, drawing together the threads that began to bind the planet: from the way power and wealth are distributed around the globe to the way major religions and civilizations divide the world. Events that began in 1492 even transformed the whole ecological system of the planet. Wars and witchcraft, plagues and persecutions, poetry and prophecy, science and magic, art and faith—all the glories and follies of the time are in this book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061959097
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	11/21/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	353
Sales rank:	36,329
Lexile:	1280L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Felipe Fernández-Armesto is currently the William P. Reynolds Professor of History at Notre Dame University, and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Global History. Fernández-Armesto is also a member of the history faculty at Queen Mary College, University of London. The author, coauthor, or editor of more than twenty-five books, Fernández-Armesto's work has been translated into twenty-two languages. His books include Before Columbus; The Times Illustrated History of Europe; Columbus; Millennium: A History of the Last Thousand Years (the subject of a ten-part series on CNN); Civilizations: Culture, Ambition, and the Transformation of Nature; Near a Thousand Tables; The Americas; Ideas That Changed the World; Humankind: A Brief History; The Times Atlas of World Exploration; Reformations; Truth; and The Times Guide to the Peoples of Europe.

Editorial Reviews

Fernandez-Armesto’s narrative fluidity, not to mention an ability to turn a phrase, converts facts into context in an attractively readable manner.... Surveying the planet entire in 1492, Fernández-Armesto brilliantly sweeps a startling breadth of history into his unified narrative.

Booklist

Fernández-Armesto challenges some long-standing historical thinking…. The compiled information adds immensely to the understanding of world that ended and began in 1492…. 1492 changes our view of history.

San Antonio Express-News

In his stimulating new book, Fernandez-Armesto offers a model of how to write popular history: accessible, provocative and full of telling detail. (4 stars)

Mail on Sunday (London)

In his stimulating new book, Fernandez-Armesto offers a model of how to write popular history: accessible, provocative and full of telling detail. (4 stars)

Mail on Sunday

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. 1492 is a compendium of delights.

The Times (London)

Fernandez-Armesto’s narrative fluidity, not to mention an ability to turn a phrase, converts facts into context in an attractively readable manner.... Surveying the planet entire in 1492, Fernández-Armesto brilliantly sweeps a startling breadth of history into his unified narrative.

Booklist

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. 1492 is a compendium of delights.” — The Times (London)

In his stimulating new book, Fernandez-Armesto offers a model of how to write popular history: accessible, provocative and full of telling detail. (4 stars) — Mail on Sunday (London)

“Fernandez-Armesto’s narrative fluidity, not to mention an ability to turn a phrase, converts facts into context in an attractively readable manner.... Surveying the planet entire in 1492, Fernández-Armesto brilliantly sweeps a startling breadth of history into his unified narrative.” — Booklist

“Fernández-Armesto challenges some long-standing historical thinking…. The compiled information adds immensely to the understanding of world that ended and began in 1492…. 1492 changes our view of history.” — San Antonio Express-News

From the Publisher