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Title: Prince Henry the Navigator by Peter Russell ISBN: 0-300-09130-3 Publisher: Yale Nota Bene Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.69 (13 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A MAN MEDIEVAL
Comment: Peter Russell's subject was one about whom, I must confess, I knew very little. I was aware that Prince Henry had initiated exploration of the west coast of Africa and was indirectly responsible for the voyages of Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama. These are the facts found in any general survey of Western Civilization. However, the real character and life of Henry is much more interesting and complex.
Mr. Russell opens the story with a typical background concerning Henry's family. He then deals with Henry's horoscope. Despite being on the verge of the Modern World, horoscopes at birth were common at that time. This sets the stage, and to some extent, seems to explain much of Henry's life. Henry is not the "Monastic Prince," dedicated to exploration in the name of disinterested science and the glory of Portugal. Rather, he is a live, flesh and blood, product of the late Middle Ages. He seeks fame and honor as a Christian Crusader against Islam and the forces of darkness, with, like most crusaders, an eye to profit.
Henry did not initiate the Slave trade. It is worthy of note to see how a people, who believed that all men were descended from Adam, could justify the abomination of slavery. "Though in natural law there may be no distinction between a free man and a slave, for the practical working of society natural law in this case had been superceded by man-made law which treats freemen and slaves differently" (p. 249). Looking at our own day I can find instances of where Constitutional Rights have been sacrificed to the "higher good" of expediency. The Orwellian expression that "All men are created equal, but some men are more equal than others" applies.
In our current rush to dispel myths of the past we often leap from one extreme to another. We are quick to turn unvarnished heroes into despicable demons. The fallacy of unmixed blessings is replaced by one of unmixed curses. We sit upon our arrogant, high throne of judgment of those in the past, forgetting that there will be those in future who are apt to sit in judgment of us. Just as the Portuguese and Europeans mistakenly thought what they did was right, so too will future generations see our faults. Let us hope they will be fair and not politically motivated in their judgment.
Mr. Russell has written an excellent biography of the Prince, dispelling numerous myths, without falling into the currently fashionable morass of Political Correctness. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the period of European exploration and discovery.
Rating: 5
Summary: A World Changed
Comment: Peter Russell has written an excellent book on one of Europe's most complex historical "star" personalities. The bottom line is that Prince Henry had a heart driven, albeit somewhat twisted, ambition that dramatically changed how the world was viewed forever.
By the way, good reveiw Mr. Putnam. Only one problem, it is not "Portuguese and Europeans", but "other Europeans". The Portuguese, if you would like to check are: Roman, Celtic, Swabian, Visigoth and Arab for the most part, just like most other Southern EUROPEAN peoples. Thank you.
Rating: 4
Summary: Into the Unknown......
Comment: Prince Henry 'the Navigator' provides the reader an intricately detailed account of the life of this crusader, geographical visionary, and aggressive entrepreneur. Seeking an end around the Saharan caravan trade, Henry pushed maritime exploration down Africa's Atlantic coast into a region shrouded in myth and mystery. Ostensibly claiming a crusader's fervor for the conversion of the barbarous, Henry initiated the Afro-Atlantic slave trade, charted Africa's western shoreline, commercially developed the Azores, battled desperately for control of the Canaries, and, as time and events allowed, launched invasions of Morocco with varying degrees of success.
Henry thrust medieval Europe into the Atlantic providing the impetus for empires to come. Like any mortal, he was imprisoned by the consciousness of his times, yet unfettered in his drive to explore the unknown. Both flawed and famous, P.E. Russell's Prince Henry is placed firmly within the chronological context. He can be detested for his commerce in flesh, his cynical exploitation of faith, and his innate impulse to conquer, but he would then be measured not by the standards of his day, but of our own. In settling this score, Russell admirably adheres to objectivity.
Despite spotty source material, P.E. Russell has presented a comprehensive, entirely readable account of Henry the Navigator. This is a solid and satisfying book which easily merits a rating of 4 stars.
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Title: The Portuguese Empire, 1415-1808: A World on the Move by A. J. Russell-Wood ISBN: 0801859557 Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1998 List Price(USD): $20.95 |
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Title: A Concise History of Portugal (Cambridge Concise Histories) by David Birmingham ISBN: 0521438802 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1993 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: Journey to Portugal: In Pursuit of Portugal's History and Culture by Jose Saramago, Amanda Hopkinson, Nick Caistor ISBN: 0156007134 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 06 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: The Lusiads (Oxford World's Classics (Paperback)) by Luis Vaz De Camoes, Landeg White ISBN: 0192801511 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen ISBN: 0066211735 Publisher: William Morrow & Company Pub. Date: 14 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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