So Noble a Captain - the Life and Times of Ferdinand Magellan
by Parr, Charles McKew
pub. by Thomas Y. Crowell Co. - 1953     LCCN 53-7525 (this book is pre-isbn)
index - pictures, maps, generous bibliography, apendix 425p. - - history - biography
I wish I had read this book 30 years ago. It is very readable and very detailed. It sets up the story by preceding Ferdinand Magellans birth by over 100 years setting the dynastic stage in Portugal. This is important because Magellans relations with his king were very rocky at best. Side voyages are explored, as are many which are normally not even footnotes in more popular historical writing. Find out who was Cristobal de Haro. Who really ran Spain (Fonseca). Who was Jakob Fugger. Who did Sebastian Cabot really sail for, and learn of his southern failure. How were the kingdoms of Portugal, and Spain financed. Read this book. You will learn more than expected, and enjoy the trip.
~2008~

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