Vasco da Gama.

Napoli, Tony. Vasco da Gama.
Enslow 2010 112p 31.93
Great Explorers of the World (Enslow)
978-1-59845-127-6 ms/hs VG-BN
Examines the life of explorer Vasco da Gama, including his childhood in Portugal, his three expeditions to India, opening up the spice trade, expanding Portugal’s empire and his legacy in world history. This biography of da Gama presents more detail and depth than students can expect to find in a general encyclopedia article, thus making it a good resource for research and for biography assignments. A description of Portugal’s maritime history lays the groundwork for a more thorough narrative of da Gama’s explorations. The focus is on da Gama’s three expeditions to India and how those expeditions were responsible for extending Portugal’s dominance around the world, both militarily and economically. Using a primary source, The Roteiro as well as other secondary sources, readers have a good understanding of the preparations, itinerary and events of da Gama’s historic first voyage that connected the West and the East by sea. Each of the voyages had its share of triumphs and mistakes, which makes for interesting reading. In addition to describing da Gama’s feats of bravery and courage, the author also discusses how da Gama’s successful voyages brought change to Portugal and how subsequent voyages by Pedro Avares Cabral and Joao da Nova set the stage for da Gama’s second expedition to India. Although during the intervening years between the second and third voyages Portugal strengthened its position and gained greater control of trade centers in the Far East, there were problems in the part of India that Portugal controlled, and so da Gama set sail for his third and last voyage to the Far East. Upon arrival he made many changes requested by the Portuguese king but after three months he became ill and died. Da Gama’s victories are tempered by his treatment of the native peoples of the lands he visited, which was not uncommon for explorers of his time. The nine chapters are each introduced by a full color illustration and numerous other full page and half page captioned illustrations and maps are included in each chapter. The timeline gives a brief description of the events associated with a date and voyage. Zajko,Rosanne