Product Description
The untold story of the secret alliance behind the “discovery” of America

• Reveals how a utopian dream of brotherhood among Christians, Muslims, and Jews fueled a murderous power struggle involving secret societies, popes, and kings

• Explains why King Ferdinand of Spain supported Columbus’s voyages openly, but, secretly, sought to undermine their purpose

• Shows how Columbus knew, sailing west, he would find the “New World,” not Asia

Was Columbus a Templar? According to the historic documents and maps revealed by Ruggero Marino, Columbus shared their dream of Christians, Muslims, and Jews living in peace in a New Jerusalem, and his voyage across the Atlantic was both to find a new passage to Asia and to find the place where the New Jerusalem could be built.

Marino draws parallels between Marco Polo’s journey east over the Silk Route and Columbus’s sea voyages and reveals that Columbus studied ancient texts and maps from the Vatican Library, access to which was granted by Pope Innocent VIII--who Marino shows to be Columbus’s true father. Innocent VIII (whose own father was Jewish and grandmother was Muslim) was the perfect individual to further the Templars’ plan to create a universal religion combining the spiritual wisdom of the three faiths. Marino shows that Innocent’s “disappearance” and the story that Columbus merely stumbled onto the New World were part of a calculated political and theological cover-up. While King Ferdinand (the model for Machiavelli’s The Prince) and Queen Isabella of Spain are heralded with funding Columbus’s “discovery” of America, it was Innocent VIII who was the main sponsor and master-mind of the expedition. To obscure the purpose of the voyages, and give Spain the credit for the New World discovery, Ferdinand and his agent Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia), Pope Innocent VIII’s successor, initiated the disinformation campaign that has lasted for over 500 years. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Torturous Reading
If the writer was attempting to give us a first hand experience of the agony caused by the Inquisition, he has done a fine job. I suffered through the Intro hoping the overblown, overly flowery writing style would improve when it got to the actual meat of the research, but I was disappointed to find that it did not.The book is completely impossible to follow as the writer bounces from one subject to another without any order or cohesion.He spends a great deal more time fancifully and eloquently (although incomprehensibly) attending to his conclusions, but very little time on the research and facts he used to draw his conclusions.

I have to admit I did not make it through the entire book. I simply couldn't manage it, so it's possible (although I doubt it) that somewhere in the book are some actual facts to back his assertions, but I will never know, buried as they are in hyperbole and rhetoric.I can't believe the writer spent 16 years researching this subject and all we have is this confusing chaotic dribble. I want my $5 back!!!!

A Fresh outlook on a historical event we take for granted.
There are connections to the Templars, the Vatican, the Genoese merchants and Marco Polo that the author makes that take the Columbus story from 2-D to 3-D. A must for anyone researching the man and the events leading to the European colonization of America.

Pulp it...
I persevered for four chapters before abandoning this book.The book is impossible to read - this may be partly the fault of the translator, for the english is clumsy, but the author seems to have been unable to organise his thoughts and the book is muddled, to say the least.The author seems at great pains to restore the reputation of Innocent VIII - but though the writing is emotional, little in the way of fact or sensible argument is offered.
Not worth the paper it is printed on

Highly speculative and fancy
I rather found this book to follow a highly speculative and fancy approach to Christopher Columbus origins and life and about the discovery of the New World. Reading is difficult. The author has a particular writing style of short sentences that break the reasoning in an unnatural and annoying way. On top of that, the arguments are never put in simple, objective terms, but instead in a rhetorical, fancy, speculative fashion.
The authors shows a great deal of knowledge and is always trying to speculate new connections between persons and seemingly historical facts (in fact, it's hard to find a sound argumentation about historical facts, because of its speculative style).
The author points out interesting speculations, though. Like Columbus being a related to the pope Innocent VIII and that America was pre-discovered long before Columbus' official discovery. This is, in fact, in line with the theory that Columbus was a portuguese secret agent working for John II of Portugal in Spain, trying to take the spanish royalty out of the African cost and of the route to India by circumnavigate South-Africa.
Because of its speculative nature, it brings out a large number of entry points for further investigations about the historical context of Columbus time, like a reference to the turk admiral Piri Reis and a lot of forgot painting evidences that suggest that America was already known before it was officially discovered.
It's not an answering book, but rather a questioning one.

Mysteries Magazine review
In this book, Italian journalist Ruggero Marino challenges centuries-old myths and deliberate disinformation to re-affirm the dominant roles that Pope Innocent VIII and Christopher Columbus played in the 1492 discovery of the New World.
Marino's thesis is that for more than 500 years, Pope Innocent VIII has been deliberately slighted by historians and researchers and the part he played in the discovery of America has been intentionally expunged by Spanish King Ferdinand and his Roman cohort Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia. Their intent was to dishonor Innocent and to ensure that Spain, not Italy, was acclaimed as the dominant power in the discovery of America.
To substantiate his claims, Marino spent more than 16 years researching archives, libraries, and even sites at the Vatican, including Innocent VIII's tomb. He confesses to constantly puzzling over a cryptogram of Columbus' reproduced in the final pages of the book but indecipherable still.
Marino details why he believes Columbus was Pope Innocent's illegitimate son and presents the logic for seeing Columbus as an educated renaissance man. He explains the relationships among practitioners of the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish religions and alludes to present-day parallel struggles between the East and the West. He stresses how all knowledge and political power at the time was centered in Rome but was being threatened by the barbarians at the gate, hence Innocent's call for a crusade.
He forges links between Columbus and the Templars, including in the use of the term "Master" as applied to Columbus and more tellingly, in the fact that Columbus' father-in-law was a Templar. And he expounds about the numerous world maps of the time with their mysterious markings and references to the New World, Atlantis, Antilya, Cipango, and the "fourth peninsula."Marino even posits that Columbus' voyage of 1492 was a hoax, of sorts, since Marino asserts that he had already discovered America during a previous voyage.
Marino's suppositions are interesting and worth considering. Readers may find, however, that the book can be confusing because of the way subjects are introduced, then dropped, then re-introduced, a technique better suited to fiction than non-fiction. North American readers with an average knowledge of and Interest in Italian and European history may also find the references to the multitude of persons and events difficult to follow. But those who have a desire to uncover more about the mysteries of the discovery of America will be well rewarded.
--M. Wayne Cunningham
Mysteries Magazine issue #20 ... Read more

Product Description
Describes the exploration of North America in the times of explorers Christopher Columbus, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, and Sieur de La Salle. The reader's choices reveal the historical details from the perspective of a sailor or a Tainos Indian during Columbus voyage in 1492, a Spanish adventurer or a Zuñi Indian during Coronado s 1540 expedition, and a member of Sieur de La Salle s expedition down the Mississippi River in 1682. ... Read more

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The author of The Mapmakers sheds new light on the life, times, and legacy of Christopher Columbus, answering questions about his voyages, the myths surrounding him, and his impact on world history. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Science in Dispute, Volume 1, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 6273 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Explores controversial topics in science and technology by featuring informative essays, both pro and con, on the major theories, ethical questions and commercial applications of science from all disciplines. ... Read more

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Columbus and the New World presents a series of essays on the background and the prelude to Columbus's voyage, on the voyage of the discovery itself, and its aftermath. ... Read more

Product Description
Art and text sum up the new thinking about Columbus in a graphically appealing format. Using this colorful 32" x 21" poster, students are introduced to artwork and writings from primary sources on the early history of the Americas. With this original material, teachers can help students understand the perspectives of people who were here first, analyze historical myths, and read their textbooks more critically. The booklet provides a full discussion of this period in history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Don't believe everything you read - this book especially...
One reviewer claims this should be taught in schools - This is just another jewel for revisionist historians.We do not need this type of material to be taught in our public schools. Although the author claims to have used primary sources, his interpretation of these sources should be questioned. Our young children should learn to search for truth, but not be misled by one man's erroneous opinion.Undermining our History texts only teaches students to distrust teachers and schools.

Should be a most read for all history students
Everything by the author is well researched, thought provoking, and tells us things we don't want to hear but need to. ... Read more

Product Description
An illustrated companion volume to the PBS series looks at the social political, and intellectual history of Chrisopher Columbus, exploring his voyages and present-day repercussions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A gem in an ocean of books on Columbus
There are many books on Columbus but none surpass the quality of the writing and the way the authors lay out the history of the great discovery including what led Columbus to his decision to sail west into an unknown sea.His dealings with Spain's royalty and his later misfortunes are put in context with the times he lived in.A real pleasure to read. ... Read more

Product Description
In the summer of 1990, a crew of adventurers, including the author, faithfully reenacted Columbus's famous voyage in a replica of the Nina. From this modern voyage, the book flashes back to life aboard the original ships, where readers will meet a fictional cabin boy and witness the entire voyage through his eyes. Full color. 11" x 27" wall poster included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Unknown Pilot yarn revived
It is an abosolute disgrace that this children's book revives the 500-year-old yarn that Columbus possessed a secret map. According to one version of this yarn, this map was drawn around 1477 by the pilot of a Portuguese ship, which was swept across the Atlantic Ocean by a fierce storm. The storm carried the pilot to the West Indies and back to the Madeira Islands, where Columbus lived. Supposedly, Columbus acquired the map when the pilot died. In 1492 Columbus retraced the route on this map to reach the West Indies.

This legend is discussed in many books, and some authors refer to it as "the story of the Unknown Pilot." The yarn was concocted to discredit Columbus and to minimize the importance of his voyage.

The "Unknown Pilot" legend was first published in 1535 by Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo. After relating various versions of the yarn, Oviedo wrote, "As for me, I hold it to be false."

On page 62 of "Admiral of the Ocean Sea," Samuel Eliot Morison wrote: "Certain modern pundits ... snap at this Tale of an Ancient Mariner and swallow it, hook, line and sinker." This is a perfect description of Luis Coin Cuenca, who is featured in this book.

Another view of Christopher Columbus
This story about Christopher Columbus is told through the eyes of a fictional cabin boy.The book also includes notes from the author and photographer who retraced Columbus' route, bringing the story to life. ... Read more

Product Description
For four hundred years--from the first Spanish assaults against the Arawak people of Hispaniola in the 1490s to the U.S. Army's massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee in the 1890s--the indigenous inhabitants of North and South America endured an unending firestorm of violence. During that time the native population of the Western Hemisphere declined by as many as 100 million people.Indeed, as historian David E. Stannard argues in this stunning new book, the European and white American destruction of the native peoples of the Americas was the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world.

Stannard begins with a portrait of the enormous richness and diversity of life in the Americas prior to Columbus's fateful voyage in 1492.He then follows the path of genocide from the Indies to Mexico and Central and South America, then north to Florida, Virginia, and New England, and finally out across the Great Plains and Southwest to California and the North Pacific Coast.Stannard reveals that wherever Europeans or white Americans went, the native people were caught between imported plagues and barbarous atrocities, typically resulting in the annihilation of 95 percent of their populations. What kind of people, he asks, do such horrendous things to others? His highly provocative answer: Christians. Digging deeply into ancient European and Christian attitudes toward sex, race, and war, he finds the cultural ground well prepared by the end of the Middle Ages for the centuries-long genocide campaign that Europeans and their descendants launched--and in places continue to wage--against the New World's original inhabitants. Advancing a thesis that is sure to create much controversy, Stannard contends that the perpetrators of the American Holocaust drew on the same ideological wellspring as did the later architects of the Nazi Holocaust. It is an ideology that remains dangerously alive today, he adds, and one that in recent years has surfaced in American justifications for large-scale military intervention in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

At once sweeping in scope and meticulously detailed, American Holocaust is a work of impassioned scholarship that is certain to ignite intense historical and moral debate. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (51)

Read this Book
Read this book and pay special attention to the discussion of POLITICAL MYTHOLOGY. Then re-evaluate your early education and the glorification of Columbus.

Making the (In)Visible, Visible
Stannard writes that anywhere Europeans or white Americans ventured in the New World, the indigenous people had been subjected to either imported plagues and barbarous atrocities; this onslaught resulted in the extermination of an estimated 95 percent of the local population (Stannard, American Holocaust xii, xiv, 53-58, 77-81, 87-91, 102-109, 134-139, 202-204, and 268). Provocatively, Stannard inquires: What kind of people does such horrific things to fellow human beings? Stannard's equally controversial reply: Christians. From the first Spanish contact with the Arawaks of Hispaniola in the 1490s to the U.S. Cavalry massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee in the 1890s - a span of over 4 centuries - the native population of North and South America suffered what can only be described as an unending stream of violent acts. During those 4 centuries, the native population of the New World had seen decline of an approximately 100 million people (Stannard, American Holocaust 10-11, 21-24, 28-31, 39-40, 48, 222, and 266-268). Stannard further contends that the same European and/or white American destruction of the indigenous peoples of the Americas was, arguably, the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world (Stannard, American Holocaust 57-148).

Stannard starts American Holocaust with a description of the vast richness and diversity of life in the new World prior to Columbus's arrival in 1492. In contrast to Thomas Bender's vision of 1492, Stannard does not deny that this was the start of a form of globalization. On the contrary, Stannard argues that this was when disease went global (Stannard, American Holocaust x, xv, 10-11, 57-71, 188-207, and 258). Stannard then traces the path of genocide from the Indies, to Mexico, to Central and South America, to Florida, to Virginia, and finally to New England. The grisly tale finally ends in the Great Plains and Southwest to California and the North Pacific Coast (Stannard, American Holocaust 57-148). Examining the archive from the earliest European and Christian attitudes toward sex, race, and war, Stannard discovers the cultural foundation well laid by the closing stages of the Middle Ages for the eventual 4 centuries of massacres that would take place in the New World (Stannard, American Holocaust 149-246). While Horkheimer and Adorno contend that, the Nazi Holocaust formed the culmination of history in an excess of modernity (Schoolman, Morton; Reason and Horror 2); Stannard conversely argues that the epistemological, ideological, and religious grounding that informed the American Holocaust also informed the Jewish Holocaust - in a sense arguing for continuity. Stannard's continuation argument therefore alludes to the past in the present and these notions remain perilously alive today (Stannard, American Holocaust 238-246). Stannard closes by arguing that Americans continue to rationalize large-scale military involvement in Southeast Asia and the Middle East on the same epistemological and ideological premise (Stannard, American Holocaust 247-258).

An outstanding work!
Some readers are fixated on the use of the term "holocaust" and dismiss the entire book because the use of the term does not conform to their emotionally charged historical WWII definition. The fact is the term "holocaust" has several different meanings and the use of the term in this book is fully consistent with the standard definition of the term.

Reverse Parody
"In fourteen hundred ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue...and discovered America. Now, some argued Columbus actually discovered the West Indies, or that Norsemen had discovered America centuries earlier, or that you really can't get credit for discovering a land already populated by indigenous people with a developed civilization. Those people are communists. Columbus discovered America." Jon Stewart, America the Book

Jon Stewart lampoons the archetypal heroic view of Columbus' quest for conquest. It is easy to argue that Americans have a more nuanced view of history and see Columbus for the complex figure he was. But if this were really so, Stewart's satirical ruse would not ring true. That it does opens the door for historians to argue an extreme contrarian view, something University of Hawaii Professor David E. Stannard achieves rather eloquently in American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World.

"I am become death, the shatterer of worlds,"quotes J. Robert Oppenheimer from Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita during the initial testing of an atomic bomb at Trinity, New Mexico. He could foresee the death and destruction that would be wrought into this world now that man had split the atom and harnessed nuclear power. Stannard argues a similar ominous foreboding enveloped the New World four and a half centuries earlier as Christopher Columbus and the European settlers would become no less shatterer of worlds, bringing death to, becoming death in, the New World.

Stannard offers a different lens from which to view the glorious European settlers and the simplistic savages to whom these brave white men brought Christianity. What were these `savages' like? They were hardly monolithically `savage.' The peoples of the Americas numbered around "145,000,000 for the hemisphere as a whole and about 18,000,000 for the area north of Mexico."When Rome was conquering Greece, the North American Adena culture had been flourishing for a thousand years.The Mayan empire stretched for 100,000 square miles and lasted 1000 years, with scholarly estimates listing the population at "ten to thirteen million just for the Yucatan portion of the empire, an area covering only one-third of Maya territory."

Stannard contrasts the glories of pre-Columbian American civilizations with his portrait of the degradation of European civilization. He outlines the plagues and diseases running rampant through fifteenth and sixteenth century Europe. It is not enough for Stannard to highlight the desecration of Native American civilization by European peoples, as horrible as it was. All of Europe's sins, none of her contributions, are highlighted, and only the glories of Native American civilization are highlighted, with quick dismissals of less than savory episodes. He seems almost apologetic about the notorious Aztec human sacrifice rituals, saying "Perhaps as many as 20,000 enemy warriors, captured in battle, were sacrificed each year...however, in the siege of Tenochtitlan the invading Spaniards killed twice that many in a single day,"as if to say murder only counts when perpetrated by white people.

Cultural destruction and annihilation, a trait sadly common to all victorious conquerors in human history--from Alexander the Great to Julius Caesar to Genghis Khan--is treated as if it somehow flows inherently from the nature of European and Western Culture. European Christian religious beliefs are contrasted and condemned against the native spiritualities of the early American peoples. Stannard connects "the idea of the Great Chain of Being that categorized and ranked all the earth's living creatures"with man above animals--an idea "central as well to medieval Christian thought" --as somehow leading the Europeans to see the Native Americans as less than human, instead of just recognizing that destruction of other cultures is just something victorious nations have done, as awful as it is.

The destruction of native cultures by the European invaders is a topic in need of serious inquiry and, yes, exploration. Yet Stannard turns off the average reader by turning this into a simplistic Garden of Eden tale, starring the native peoples as Adam and Eve and the Europeans as the serpent bringing down Paradise. A better book would have highlighted the flaws of Christopher Columbus and the European settlers while not downplaying their positive qualities and ignoring the natives' negative traits. It seems we have gone from one stereotype--the terrible savage red man--to a complete opposite stereotype--the noble earth loving Indian falling helplessly to the big bad European. To really do the natives justice is to highlight their great cultures in all their complexity; the great periods and agricultural systems as well as the horrific human sacrifice.

eye opener
this book is amazing, it opens ur eyes to a whole new light on history of the americas u never would of known unless u went out of school and researched this topic on your own. shows who the real moraly uncivilized savages wer. everyone native to the "americas" and caribean should read this book and learn the TRUTH about columbus and european invasion. ... Read more

Product Description
Of all the great seafaring vessels of the Age of Discovery, not one has been recovered or even—given the lack of detailed contemporary descriptions—accurately represented. Then, in the mid-1990s, a sunken ship was found in a small, shallow gulf off the coast of Panama. Chronicling both dramatic history and present-day archaeological adventures, Klaus Brinkbäumer and Clemens Höges reveal this artifact to be not only the oldest shipwreck ever recovered in the Western Hemisphere but also very likely the remains of the Vizcaína, one of the ships Christopher Columbus took on his last trip to the New World. The Voyage of the Vizcaína gives us an exciting tale of exploration and discovery, and the startling truths behind Columbus’s final attempt to reach the East by going west.

Customer Reviews (4)

Great story of History, Politics and Exploration.
What really happened to the last voyage of Christopher Columbus? This is a great story of history, politics and exploration.

Amazing research!
This book is not the easiest read.That said, it contains amazing detail about Columbus and his several voyages to the new world.I felt the book delivered a good feel for the man and for the times.A tremendous amount of research has been done on Columbus over the centuries and this book seems to touch on the major findings and integrates them well into the overall story.I was amazed at the amount of information to be had and how little I actually knew about Columbus and the history surrounding his discovery of the new world.

Lots of historical facts that will intrique you
In the mid-1990s, divers discovered the wreck of a large ship just off the coast of Panama, feeding the rumors that this might be the remains of one of the ships from Columbus's final voyage. Columbus was able to persuade Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille to give him a fleet of four ships in 1502 to return to the New World in search of more riches. Although he reached the Americas, his ships, all victims of shipworms eating through the hulls' wood, began to sink one by one. Columbus reported abandoning the fourth ship, the Vizcaina near Portobelo.

It was said that this ship has three masts and a loading capacity of fifty tons. But when divers went searching, they couldn't immediately determine that the abandoned ship off the bay in Playa Damas was the Vizcaina because of the contents of the ship and the relative integrity of the ships structure.

The authors combine Columbus's history, and the discovery of the ship buried beneath the ocean for decades. Divers and archeology experts are quoted throughout the book, which makes it a bit of a hybrid historical read. The past and present converge by finding the Vizcaina. Yet, it's a true adventure whether you like history or archeology. The history of the man who founded the New World is fascinating as he was a true adventurer.

Armchair Interviews says: Thrilling historical, yet scientific reading that leaves you satiated with a host of historical facts and awe about modern archeology.

Gripping Story - Misleading Title
This is a truly exciting read. Although the title and subtitle both suggest that the book is mainly about the Vizcaina, in fact, only about 20% of it contains discussions that directly pertain to that ship; most of these discussions deal with efforts towards determining whether the wreck that was found in the Bay of Playa Damas (Panama) is indeed the Vizcaina. Naturally, when something of such historical importance is found, some form of politics must step in to play its important frustrating role of slowing down, with utmost efficiency, any exciting archaeological progress; this case is no exception. However, the main bulk of the book is about Christopher Columbus: his life, his travels and his adventures. Also presented are fascinating outlines of current disputes as to his true origins as well as where his bones are currently located. Published in 2006, this is an English translation of a book that was originally published in German in 2004. Although the original German title seems to be more appropriate than the current English one, the translation is well done in the sense that the writing is so clear and engaging that the book is very difficult to put down. It will likely be indispensable reading for most history buffs, but it can be enjoyed by anyone. ... Read more

Product Description
Probably the most famous of all sea explorers, Christopher Columbus made four voyages of discovery to America for Spain between 1492 and 1504. This volume recounts these adventures with maps, illustrations, and lively text. ... Read more

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An imaginative account of everyday life in the time of Columbus discusses travel, the Moors, food, clothing, sickness, royalty, education, the arts, books and printing, crime and punishment, the Inquisition, mapmakers, ships, and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

More hyperbole than fact
This "history" is an extreme case of over-characterization.Brenner presents the Moors as nothing but brilliant, wonderful--and innocent--people.Only briefly does she mention that they slaughtered the Christians (though she does not use such strong language for the Moors) when they conquered Spain over 700 years earlier.

She fails to mention that in Spain war between the Christians and the Muslims recurred many times between 711 and 1492, and that when the Muslims were in control, the Christians and the Jews were forced to convert, be slaughtered, or flee.The Ottoman Turks, also Muslims, had invaded Constantinople only 39 years earlier, closing it off to the Christian West, which is why Columbus was seeking a westward route to China in the first place.

Brenner is extreme in her characterization of the Moors and Jews as The Good Guys and the Spanish Catholics as The Bad Guys, so much so one only wonders how accurately she presents the rest of her "facts."In some places she writes with corny melodrama, as in the surrender of Abdallah.It makes for poor "history" overall.

Very Interesting
Our seven year old son read this book quickly and enjoyed it a great deal.He only likes to read non-fiction and this book had substanitally more text than pictures, which is not usual in non-fiction books aimed at this age range.The book contained lots of information about life in Spain in the Middle Ages that I did not know, including some challenging information about the Spanish Inquisition and the treatment of Jews by the Spaniards of that period. ... Read more