309: Columbus: Villain or Hero? (Part 4)

Context:

Mentioned when discussing Columbus being stuck in the Doldrums during his third voyage in 1498. The hosts reference a memorable sequence in Patrick O'Brian's Napoleonic-era naval novels where the characters Aubrey and Maturin are stuck in the Doldrums without water in intense heat, drawing a parallel to Columbus's experience. Fans of age-of-sail fiction and naval history would find these novels compelling.

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Explicitly quoted in the episode, with the passage: 'Children's biographies of Christopher Columbus function as primers on racism and imperialism.' The book is identified as written by William Bigelow, a U.S. high school teacher, and represents the critical reassessment of Columbus that gained momentum around the 1992 quincentenary. Listeners interested in how Columbus is taught in American schools and the politics of historical education would find this relevant.

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Recommended at the end of the episode as a book that 'transcends the terms of the debate' about Columbus as hero or villain. Described as Fuentes's 'masterpiece and by far his most difficult book,' it is a counterfactual novel in which Philip II's reign unfolds without America having been discovered, Elizabeth I is married to him as 'Isabel Tudor,' and Don Quixote appears. Inspired by Finnegans Wake but described as 'infinitely more readable,' it's recommended for anyone wanting to grasp the 'overwhelming strangeness' of the European encounter with the New World.

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Mentioned by one of the hosts as a Carlos Fuentes novel he has read, when the other host recommends Terra Nostra. A landmark of Mexican literature exploring the Mexican Revolution and its aftermath through the memories of a dying man, it would appeal to listeners interested in Latin American fiction.

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Briefly mentioned alongside The Death of Artemio Cruz as another Carlos Fuentes work that one of the hosts is familiar with. Based on the disappearance of American writer Ambrose Bierce in revolutionary Mexico, it would interest readers who enjoy historical fiction set in Latin America.

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Mentioned as the literary inspiration for Carlos Fuentes's Terra Nostra, though the hosts note that Terra Nostra is 'infinitely more readable' than Joyce's notoriously difficult final novel. The reference serves to give listeners a sense of Terra Nostra's ambitious, experimental style while reassuring them it is more accessible than its inspiration.

Context:

Described as 'an overtly Marxist history, very successful, very popular among students' that explicitly characterizes Columbus's legacy as 'conquest, slavery, death.' The hosts use it as a prominent example of the trend to recast Columbus as a villain. One of the most influential alternative histories of the United States, it would appeal to listeners interested in seeing American history told from the perspective of marginalized groups.