{"title":"Books by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781526632104","title":"Straits","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE DUFF COOPER PRIZE 2022\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA\u003ci\u003e FINANCIAL TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2022\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Rigorous, deft and entertaining ... a sparkling read'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003e- The Spectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'The ride is thrilling ... a work of serious scholarship' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e- Sunday Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor centuries, Ferdinand Magellan has been celebrated as a hero: a noble adventurer who circumnavigated the globe in an extraordinary feat of human bravery; a paragon of daring and chivalry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto draws on extensive and meticulous research to conduct a dazzling investigation into Magellan’s life, his character and his ill-fated voyage. He reveals that Magellan did not attempt – much less accomplish – a journey around the globe, and that in his own lifetime, the explorer was abhorred as a traitor, reviled as a tyrant and dismissed as a failure. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFernández-Armesto probes the passions and tensions that drove Magellan to adventure and drew him to disaster: the pride that became arrogance, audacity that became recklessness, determination that became ruthlessness, romanticism that became irresponsibility, and superficial piety that became, in adversity, irrational exaltation. And as the real Magellan emerges, so too do his true ambitions, focused less on circumnavigating the world or cornering the global spice market than on exploiting Filipino gold.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOffering up a stranger, darker and even more compelling narrative than the fictional version that has been glorified for half a millennium, \u003ci\u003eStraits\u003c\/i\u003e untangles the myths that made Magellan a hero.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43128680710322,"sku":"9781526632104","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781526632104_8310b725-3613-47d6-ada6-c1bbe26a17d5.jpg?v=1786022072"},{"product_id":"9781408809501","title":"1492","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘Fernández-Armesto's rich vision of the 1490s is unlike any other world historians have given us. He has performed an amazing feat of portraying the world as one place before it had yet become one place ... This is popular history at its best: grounded in research, insightfully critical, and written with grace'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘Filled with marvels and sensations rich in description and replete with anecdote ... A compendium of delights'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe world would end in 1492 - so the prophets, soothsayers and stargazers said. They were right. Their world did end. But ours began.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn search of the origins of the modern world, 1492 takes readers on a journey around the globe of the time, in the company of real-life travellers, drawing together the threads that began to bind the planet: from the way power and wealth are distributed around the globe to the way major religions and civilizations divide the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEvents that began in 1492 even transformed the whole ecological system of the planet. Wars and witchcraft, plagues and persecutions, poetry and prophecy, science and magic, art and faith - all the glories and follies of the time are in this book.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56299344101749,"sku":"9781408809501","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781408809501_e2073e9e-aa82-47ea-90e8-d700fca0d55a.jpg?v=1786019703"},{"product_id":"9781786077851","title":"Out of Our Minds","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Immensely learned and ambitious…seam-bursting eclecticism and polymathic brio… This is by any standards a significant book and its author deserves high praise.’ \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eTo imagine – to see that which is not there – is the startling ability that has fuelled human development and innovation through the centuries. As a species we stand alone in our remarkable capacity to refashion the world after the pictures in our minds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTraversing the realms of science, politics, religion, culture, philosophy and history, Felipe Fernández-Armesto reveals the thrilling and disquieting tales of our imaginative leaps. Through groundbreaking insights in cognitive science, he explores how and why we have ideas in the first place, providing a tantalising glimpse into who we are and what we might yet accomplish. Fernández-Armesto shows that bad ideas are often more influential than good ones; that the oldest recoverable thoughts include some of the best; that ideas of Western origin often issued from exchanges with the wider world; and that the pace of innovative thinking is under threat.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305717018997,"sku":"9781786077851","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781786077851_de6d74b0-58df-494a-ac59-c40c8ab1e1bd.jpg?v=1786025831"},{"product_id":"9781836391135","title":"How the Spanish Empire Was Built","description":"In the sixteenth century, Spain was small and divided, yet it built the largest empire in history. How? Felipe Fernández-Armesto and Manuel Lucena Giraldo reveal the crucial role of engineers in this achievement. By investing in infrastructure that benefited local elites, Spain expanded its influence and enriched trade networks. Through vivid stories of engineers, prospectors, soldiers and priests, the authors bring Spanish America’s age of conquest to life. Now in paperback, this dazzling history redefines empire as a venture shaped by collaboration as well as oppression, offering fresh insights into the rise of the Spanish Empire and the complexities of its legacy.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56368204972405,"sku":"9781836391135","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781836391135_256178d6-4191-41f9-a849-589f567ee717.jpg?v=1786028003"},{"product_id":"the-conquistadors","title":"The Conquistadors","description":"With startling speed, Spanish conquistadors invaded hundreds of Native American kingdoms, took over the mighty empires of the Aztecs and Incas, and initiated an unprecedented redistribution of the world's resources and balance of power. They changed the course of history, but the myth they established was even stranger than their real achievements. This Very Short Introduction deploys the latest scholarship to shatter and replace the traditional narrative. Chapters explore New World civilizations prior to the invasions, the genesis of conquistador culture on both sides of the Atlantic, the roles black Africans and Native Americans played and the consequences of the invasions. The book reveals who the conquistadors were and what made their adventures possible. \n\nABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466711736693,"sku":"9780195392296","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780195392296.jpg?v=1785654772"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-felipe-fernandez-armesto.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}