Discovering Christopher Columbus: How History Is Invented

Grade 6-9-- While Milton Meltzer's fine biography, Columbus and the World Around Him (Watts, 1990), features the historical panorama surrounding Columbus's voyages, Pelta briefly narrates the important details of the explorer's life in the first two chapters. In the remaining pages, she dwells on several of the more controversial moments of her subject's life, all the while instructing readers about existing theories and methods of historical research. This is not only a fresh approach; it is also profusely illustrated with both color and black-and-white photos and reproductions. There is a lengthy list of sources in paragraph form, complete with annotations, and Pelta's appealing style flows smoothly, spiced with occasional humor. The latter chapters discuss the major primary sources from which information about Columbus's life was found. This title serves less as an introductory biography than Soule's Christopher Columbus: On the Green Sea of Darkness (Watts, 1988), which gives a detailed introduction to the voyages themselves, with an emphasis on the wildlife of the sea. But as inspiration for history teachers pursuing new information, or for students truly interested in research, this book would be valuable, as it clearly shows how history is ever-changing, continually altered by the discoveries of explorers and scholars. A well-researched, well-written study of how the facts surrounding Columbus's life are still being uncovered. --Phyllis Graves, Creekwood Middle School, Kingwood, TX
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The recently escalating controversy over Columbus as personality and historical force makes him the perfect subject for this examination of the making of historical record. After a fine introduction exploring the reasons that so little is known about him and the grounds for the debate, Pelta summarizes the agreed-on facts of his life and embarks on her main theme--the nature of what's known and how it has been elaborated on over time. She describes the sources used and prejudices exhibited in the five accounts dating from the century after Columbus's death; then explains how after a century of obscurity, the first English translation of Ferdinand Columbus's biography (in 1744) and the new United States' need for their own hero combined to create a surge of adulation and interest, to be further fueled in the 19th century by Washington Irving's less than-accurate life. Pelta explores the ubiquity of Columbus's name in the New World, describes modern scholarship (including underwater archeology and computer-directed voyages), emphasizes the importance of pre- Columbians, and concludes with prospects for future research, lucidly pointing out the difference between recycled secondary sources and new information. An excellent introduction to historiography, and to using and evaluating sources of any kind. Photos and historical reproductions (most, but not all, well captioned); fine bibliographical essay (though ages levels are largely omitted); index. (Nonfiction. 10+) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.