Columbus

Listeners will learn a great deal from this careful account of Columbus's voyages to the New World. For example, although he was a first-class navigator, he was not a good administrator even though his duties as "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" demanded such skills. Nor was he the driving force behind the barbarity that the conquistadors brought with them. Histories such as this are difficult to narrate because there's little dialogue and lots of alien words and peoples. Tim Jerome faces down the challenges admirably. His friendly American baritone keeps the listener's interest as he navigates the long and detailed panorama. D.R.W. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine