Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Discovering and Conquering the New World

  • The Lives and Legacies of Christopher Columbus, Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro
  • By: Charles River Editors
  • Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
  • Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Discovering and Conquering the New World cover art

Discovering and Conquering the New World

By: Charles River Editors
Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £11.99

Buy Now for £11.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Phoenicians: The History and Culture of One of the Ancient World's Most Influential Civilizations cover art
Napoleon in Egypt cover art
The Spanish Armada cover art
The Fall of Constantinople cover art
Ernest Shackleton: A Life from Beginning to End cover art
The Vikings cover art
The Roman Conquest of Britannia: The History and Legacy of Roman Britain from Julius Caesar to Hadrian cover art
The Portuguese Empire and Africa cover art
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca cover art
The Pirate Queen cover art
The Ocean of Churn cover art
Conquistador Voices cover art
Vikings: A Captivating Guide to the History of the Vikings, Erik the Red and Leif Erikson cover art
Charlemagne, Genghis Khan, and Scipio Africanus cover art
Mecca cover art
The Ottoman Age of Exploration cover art

Summary

The most seminal event of the last millennium might also be its most controversial. As schoolchildren have been taught for over 500 years, "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue." In October of that year, the Italian Christopher Columbus immortalized himself by landing in the New World and beginning the process of European settlement in the Americas for Spain, bringing the Age of Exploration to a new hemisphere with him. Ironically, the Italian had led a Spanish expedition, in part because the Portugese rejected his offers in the belief that sailing west to Asia would take too long. Everyone agrees that Columbus's discovery of the New World was one of the turning points in history, but agreements over his legacy end there. Although his other three voyages to the New World were far less successful and largely overlooked in the narrative of his life, Columbus has become a towering figure in the annals of history.

During the Age of Exploration, some of the most famous and infamous individuals were Spain's best known conquistadors. Naturally, as the best known conquistador, Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) is also the most controversial. Like Christopher Columbus before him, Cortés was lionized for his successes for centuries without questioning his tactics or motives, while indigenous views of the man have been overwhelmingly negative for the consequences his conquests had on the Aztecs and other natives in the region. Just about the only thing everyone agrees upon is that Cortés had a profound impact on the history of North America.

If Columbus and Cortés were the pioneers of Spain's new global empire, Pizarro consolidated its immense power and riches, and his successes inspired a further generation to expand Spain's dominions to unheard of dimensions. Furthermore, he participated in the forging of a new culture: like Cortés, he took an indigenous mistress with whom he had two mixed-race children, and yet the woman has none of the lasting fame of Cortés's Doña Marina. With all of this, it is again remarkable that Pizarro remains one of the less well-known explorers of his age.

Discovering and Conquering the New World looks at the lives of the three famous explorers and their enduring legacies.

©2013 Charles River Editors (P)2017 Charles River Editors

What listeners say about Discovering and Conquering the New World

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.