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Format: Paperback Number of Pages: 560 Vendor: HarperCollins Publication Date: 2012 | Dimensions: 8.00 X 5.31 X 1.26 (inches) ISBN: 0061735132 ISBN-13: 9780061735134 |
In 1498 a young captain named Vasco da Gama sailed from Portugal, circumnavigated Africa, crossed the Indian Ocean, and discovered the sea route to the Indies and, with it, access to the fabled wealth of the East. It was the longest voyage ever undertaken at that time. With blood-red Crusader crosses emblazoned on their sails, the explorers arrived in the heart of the Muslim East in an era when the old hostilities between Christianity and Islam had risen to a new level of intensity. In two voyages that spanned six years, da Gama would fight a running sea battle that would ultimately change the fate of three continents.
The Last Crusade is an epic tale of spies, intrigue, and treachery—of bravado, brinkmanship, and confused, often comical collisions between cultures—offering a surprising new interpretation of the broad sweep of history.
Nigel Cliff is a historian, biographer, and critic. He was educated at Oxford University, where he was awarded the Beddington Prize for English Literature. He is a former theater and film critic for the London Times and a contributor to the Economist and other publications. His first book, The Shakespeare Riots, was a finalist for the National Award for Arts Writing and was selected as one of the best nonfiction books of 2007 by the Washington Post. He lives in London with his wife, the ballerina Viviana Durante.