William Brooks Greenlee

This is a book that contains primary sources, chiefly written letters; not by Cabral himself, but others who had his acquaintance. There are some really dry parts contained within, however, my favorite was a letter written by Manuel I, King of Portugal, in 1501, to his cousin, Isabella of Castile. Manuel I is bragging to the Spanish monarchs about Cabral. He also informs them that Cabral "discovered" Brazil, which at that time was called Santa Cruz. He reminds them that Columbus was "lost" when he discovered America. This letter also describes Cabral's visit to East Africa and his stay in Calicut, India. Manuel I does not have nice things to say about the Moors of East Africa or India. I also enjoyed the part about Father Joseph who had to correct the Pope, informing him that de Gama mistook Indian ceremonies as Catholic and reported that India was a Christian nation. This was called a book of primary sources, but I feel that some of these re-tellings are second hand; i.e. Manuel telling Isabella about Cabral's discoveries, and not Cabral telling them himself. 298 pages… (altro)