Review by Booklist Review
This visually rich presentation challenges readers to see the year 1492 as the whole world, coming into contact with people, plants, animals, and even bacteria soon traveling back and forth among Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Setting the stage, the first section of the book introduces civilizations in the Americas and in Europe before Columbus' voyage. The middle section looks at significant European explorers between 1492 and 1586, introducing six explorers on double-page spreads that include brief texts, detailed time lines, excellent maps, and several well-captioned, period illustrations. The intriguing third section discusses the consequences of a world joined. In the conclusion, the authors challenge readers to imagine that to those living in the Americas in 1492, the arrival of Europeans was as startling as the sighting of space ships would be today. A large map, a biographical dictionary, lists of sources, and lists of recommended Web sites are appended. A fine addition to history collections, the book offers a welcome, global perspective on the Age of Exploration.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-The authors explain how the age of European exploration ushered in the modern era of mobility, trade and exchange, and scientific advances while leaving a tragic legacy of decimating disease and the colonial domination of indigenous peoples. Large, attractive period illustrations and maps supplement the text. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Unlike old-school textbooks that portrayed the Age of Exploration as advanced European civilizations exploring primitive worlds, Aronson and Glenn take a global view, seeing 1492 as the pivotal date in human history--"the first encounter between advanced civilizations that had developed an ocean apart." Though the Americas suffered from disease, malnourishment and abuse and lost as much as 90 percent of their population, the long-term effect of this contact between societies was "the beginning of the modern age of worldwide connection," a new global world, in which foods, ideas, religions and fashions were exchanged. The text is full of fascinating ideas and speculations and is enlivened by maps, engravings, prints, photographs and other illustrations. Readers with some amount of existing knowledge of the period will benefit most from the volume. Add this to Aronson's growing body of fine historical works that are changing how young readers think about history. (biographical dictionary, glossary, sources & websites, index) (Nonfiction. 10+) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
