The Conquest of Paradise – Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy –

“… Sales’s narrative is marked by important new theses, among them:
– a perception of Columbus as a rootless, lonely man who never found a home and never understood the world he had discovered
– a new analysis of where Columbus was sailing on his first voyage, showing there is no good evidence that he was aiming for Asia, as is commonly asserted
– refutation of the famous myths about Queen Isabella pawning her jewels to finance Columbus, criminals sailing on the Santa Maria, a mutiny at sea, sailors’ beliefs that the world was flat, Columbus death in poverty and obscurity”