Description

On the deck of his flagship, the expedition commander addresses his men, his voice rising in stirring peroration: "Let us all be new men! Born today! This minute! And with only one purpose in mind! To push forward to triumph! To push forward — to Japan!" That Columbus had a clearer sense of destiny than destination is, even without the facile irony of hindsight, emblematic of the confusion of motives and expectations that inspired him and his companions to undertake their epoch-making voyage... [read more]