Toward the Setting Sun: Columbus, Cabot, Vespucci, and the Race for America

"Yes, Boyle writes about Columbus, Cabot and Vespucci all together, advancing a theory that they knew each other very well, and interacted and influenced each other far more than has been previously understood. So, what is good about it, why is it in here? Well, it has an originality that encourages the reader to think about Columbus not as somebody doing this all alone. It picks up on that theme of the previous book by the two Phillips. So, there’s a larger context. Boyle argues that there are these three northern Italians, who all have the Genoa/Florence connection. And it stimulates the readers’s imagination. Boyle writes really well, and with enthusiasm. I like his writing style. Now, if I’m playing devil’s advocate, I might also ask, what is wrong with this book? The writing style you can look at from the other direction too: it’s so nicely and engagingly written that it becomes believable, and you swallow everything that he says. That’s fine, except there’s a lot of imagination in there. Where there are gaps, he uses speculation and imagination. That’s central to what makes the book enjoyable, but it also undermines it a little as a reliable historical source. You could almost begin your reading with this one and then go back to the Phillips’ book and to Fernández-Armesto, and you’ll then be able to see where Boyle gets a little carried away here and there. So that makes the book fun to read, but also problematic if it’s the only book you are reading. If you think you come away understanding Columbus—well, you do and you don’t. Exactly. There are some pretty obscure scholarly works that touch on various aspects of Columbus’s history, but I’ve tried to avoid those here. This isn’t a list for a doctoral student writing a thesis. I mean, it is, but primarily these are books that someone who is not a professional academic, but who is interested in Columbus, should be able to pick up and enjoy and get something out of. The Boyle book is clearly written for a larger audience."