Exploration and Conquest

Exploration and Conquest: The Americas After Columbus: 1500-1620 by Betsy and Giulio Maestro


Pages: 48
Finished: Oct. 23, 2008
First Published: 1994
Genre: children, non fiction, history
Rating: 3/5

Reason for Reading: read aloud to my 8yo for school

First sentence:

Christopher Columbus was not the first to discover the Americas.

Comments: A history of exploration through North America and South America from Canada to Peru. All major explorers of the times mentioned in the title are covered such as Cortes, de Soto, Cartier, Champlain, Hudson, and the founding of Jamestown. Presented in a large picture book format the text is appropriate for ages 6 and up. The illustrations are vivid, bright, detailed and interesting. Maps help visualize all exploration routes.

I found the book very politically correct and as a Christian needed to edit the text on the fly in many places. The word "forced" was used a lot in sentences which mentioned Christians and the conquering of the Aztecs failed to mention any of the Aztec's thirst for blood. The book told how the neighbouring tribes helped Cortes in his fight against the Aztecs but never mentions why. This type of revisionist history is not what I particularly enjoy but the book is not unusable by Christians, with a bit of word changes the information is useful and the book is easy to understand, written in a narrative and interesting text. My son has retained the information and the book served its purpose in our studies.

On the other hand, if you are coming from a different worldview the book may be perfect for you. YMMV!