Simon Park

A gripping new history of the shipwrecks and other failed voyages at the dawn of imperialism (15-16th C). Wreckers sinks the old narratives of imperialism, revealing the violent, chaotic and improvised reality of empire-building from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. While figures such as Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan are celebrated for their maritime achievements - reaching...

A gripping new history of the shipwrecks and other failed voyages at the dawn of imperialism (15-16th C). Wreckers sinks the old narratives of imperialism, revealing the violent, chaotic and improvised reality of empire-building from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. Clever and compelling book. The storytelling and the scholarship fairly spark off each other. It could be a model for...