Least Heat-Moon, author, is part American Indian.
The Reviewer,  Stephen Summerhill is the author of Sinking Columbus: Contested History, Cultural Politics, and Mythmaking During the Quincentenary.
Does Christopher gets Crucified again?

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BRIEF ACCOUNT OF EXPLORER EVENHANDED 
The Columbus Dispatch  07F 
Stephen Summerhill 
December 15, 2002
584 words 

Gone are the days when Christopher Columbus was celebrated as one of the
great heroes of Western civilization. 

During the years leading up to the ill-fated 1992 quincentennial
commemoration of Columbus' first voyage to the New World, American Indians
and others changed the traditional image of the explorer by portraying him
in a distinctly unheroic, even sinister light. 

Columbus did not discover America, it was argued, because lots of people
were already there and doing quite nicely without him, thank you. 

No less important, the argument continued, the admiral was ruthless toward
the native peoples and created policies that led to genocide. 

Definitely, recent years have not been good to Christopher Columbus. 

How interesting, then, that an author who is part American Indian should
soften much of the anti-Columbus rhetoric and attempt a balanced account
that does not hide the admiral's failures but still recognizes his many
achievements. 

Columbus in the Americas is a straightforward little book that tells the
story of the Genoese navigator's four voyages to America in a direct,
accessible way. It appears intended for readers who are tired of polemics
and want a reliable, not overly long account of his travels. 

Brevity requires that some details be omitted, and the fact that prurient
matters are not mentioned suggests that the book is intended primarily for
young people. Still, essential information is provided in clear, crisp
terms, and adults should enjoy the book, too. 

The image of Columbus that emerges is not that of an evil man. For one
thing, he was a brilliant sailor. Not only did he lead several fleets to
places no European had ever sailed before, but, even more amazing, he got
them back. And he did it on small, primitive boats without reliable
navigational instruments and endured some of the worst ocean storms in
recorded history. (Not to mention problems with rebellious crews, deficient
food supplies, hull-eating sea worms and shipwrecks, among countless other
obstacles.) 

If Columbus knew one thing perhaps better than anyone, it was how to go down
to the sea in ships. 

Least Heat-Moon also recognizes the admiral's less positive qualities. As
soon as he met the naive natives, for instance, Columbus thought of
enslaving them. When he began to do so on his second voyage, they rebelled
and many were killed. 

Though he did not personally decimate the native population of Hispaniola,
he laid the groundwork for later governors who would. Columbus the colonizer
was a disaster. 

Least Heat-Moon is fascinated by the man's contradictions. Columbus had
great determination and could overcome immense obstacles. Yet he often made
glaring mistakes, accomplished some things by sheer luck, and then demanded
credit for his brilliance. His permanent refusal to believe that he had
landed anywhere but Asia was only his most obvious blunder. 

The Columbus of myth stopped being relevant long ago. Precisely because he
is so flawed, the Columbus we know today is historically more accurate and
much more interesting. 

Columbus in the Americas captures this new image of the admiral and is a
good introduction to the life and travels of a complex man who changed the
course of history. 

Stephen J. Summerhill is the author of Sinking Columbus: Contested History,
Cultural Politics, and Mythmaking During the Quincentenary. He is an
associate professor in the Ohio State University Department of Spanish and
Portuguese. 

NONFICTION | COLUMBUS IN THE AMERICAS 

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