Crowley has the knack of turning fragments into a mosaic, and his latest book is another colorful, sweeping saga.
An engaging study of the first era of globalization, focused on the spice trade.
British historian Crowley has written a series of well-regarded, popular books about European history, including City of Fortune, Conquerors, and Accursed Tower. In his latest, the author keenly dissects the 16th-century contest between Portugal and Spain to capture the lucrative spice trade, even though it meant traversing the globe. Their competition, writes Crowley, was “a great game that literally shaped the world.” In the early 1500s, a trickle of nutmeg, cloves, and mace had found its way to Europe and sparked huge demand, but their origin was a mystery. Exploratory voyages led to a small archipelago known as the Moluccas, located in what is now eastern Indonesia and the only source of the spices at the time. In 1494, Portugal and Spain had divided the southeast region of Asia—with no regard to the Indigenous populations—with a north-south line via the Treaty of Tordesillas. However, there was no concrete way to judge longitude or effectively enforce the treaty. Both the Portuguese and the Spanish sought to build on the region's existing trade networks as well as export spices back to Europe, and the silver mined from Spanish-controlled mines led to a vast expansion of commerce. In short, Europe and Asia had become tied together, and in a span of less than 80 years. The narrative could easily have become lost on the vast canvas, but Crowley, a consummate storyteller, has the experience to keep control of it, and he capably juggles the large cast of characters. He also peppers the book with illuminating maps and illustrations, creating a fascinating examination of a significant period in world history.
Crowley has the knack of turning fragments into a mosaic, and his latest book is another colorful, sweeping saga.Pub Date: May 14, 2024
ISBN: 978-0300267471
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
A rousing, suspenseful adventure tale.
A harrowing expedition to Antarctica, recounted by Departures senior features editor Sancton, who has reported from every continent on the planet.
On Aug. 16, 1897, the steam whaler Belgica set off from Belgium with young Adrien de Gerlache as commandant. Thus begins Sancton’s riveting history of exploration, ingenuity, and survival. The commandant’s inexperienced, often unruly crew, half non-Belgian, included scientists, a rookie engineer, and first mate Roald Amundsen, who would later become a celebrated polar explorer. After loading a half ton of explosive tonite, the ship set sail with 23 crew members and two cats. In Rio de Janeiro, they were joined by Dr. Frederick Cook, a young, shameless huckster who had accompanied Robert Peary as a surgeon and ethnologist on an expedition to northern Greenland. In Punta Arenas, four seamen were removed for insubordination, and rats snuck onboard. In Tierra del Fuego, the ship ran aground for a while. Sancton evokes a calm anxiety as he chronicles the ship’s journey south. On Jan. 19, 1898, near the South Shetland Islands, the crew spotted the first icebergs. Rough waves swept someone overboard. Days later, they saw Antarctica in the distance. Glory was “finally within reach.” The author describes the discovery and naming of new lands and the work of the scientists gathering specimens. The ship continued through a perilous, ice-littered sea, as the commandant was anxious to reach a record-setting latitude. On March 6, the Belgica became icebound. The crew did everything they could to prepare for a dark, below-freezing winter, but they were wracked with despair, suffering headaches, insomnia, dizziness, and later, madness—all vividly capture by Sancton. The sun returned on July 22, and by March 1899, they were able to escape the ice. With a cast of intriguing characters and drama galore, this history reads like fiction and will thrill fans of Endurance and In the Kingdom of Ice.
A rousing, suspenseful adventure tale.Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-984824-33-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
A valuable contribution to our understanding of one of history’s most vital figures.
An epistolary memoir of Nelson Mandela’s prison years.
From August 1962 to February 1990, Mandela (1918-2013) was imprisoned by the apartheid state of South Africa. During his more than 27 years in prison, the bulk of which he served on the notorious Robben Island prison off the shores of Cape Town, he wrote thousands of letters to family and friends, lawyers and fellow African National Congress members, prison officials, and members of the government. Heavily censored for both content and length, letters from Robben Island and South Africa’s other political prisons did not always reach their intended targets; when they did, the censorship could make them virtually unintelligible. To assemble this vitally important collection, Venter (A Free Mind: Ahmed Kathrada's Notebook from Robben Island, 2006, etc.), a longtime Johannesburg-based editor and journalist, pored through these letters in various public and private archives across South Africa and beyond as well as Mandela’s own notebooks, in which he transcribed versions of these letters. The result is a necessary, intimate portrait of the great leader. The man who emerges is warm and intelligent and a savvy, persuasive, and strategic thinker. During his life, Mandela was a loving husband and father, a devotee of the ANC’s struggle, and capable of interacting with prominent statesmen and the ANC’s rank and file. He was not above flattery or hard-nosed steeliness toward his captors as suited his needs, and he was always yearning for freedom, not only—or even primarily—for himself, but rather for his people, a goal that is the constant theme of this collection and was the consuming vision of his entire time as a prisoner. Venter adds tremendous value with his annotations and introductions to the work as a whole and to the book’s various sections.
A valuable contribution to our understanding of one of history’s most vital figures.Pub Date: July 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63149-117-7
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Liveright/Norton
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
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