The Last Crusade: The Epic Voyages of Vasco Da Gama

Excellent. .researched brilliantly. .well written for not only the lay reader but for the student of history also..

A detailed historic description of the events leading to crusades and subsequent voyages resulting in discovery of India and other Eastern countries by the Portugeuse and other European explorers. Though lengthy, a very interesting reading. Fills in some of the blanks in history of exploration by sea and adventures of Vasco da Gama.

Discovering a sea route to an unknown fantasy land was not a mere sea voyage - but a crucial step in order to prove one religion's supremacy over another. Nigel Cliff explains detailed history since the first crusade and why the existing trade routes to the eastern lands not sufficient for European emperors.After decades of nauseating journeys, gruesome wars and deceitful diplomacies, Vasco da Gama finally started trading with kingdoms in the Malabar Coast in the south of India and saw a mixed reaction from their rulers. We went back home with the prized spices, while his arch-rival had just reached another world he called as the Indies, though it had no spices. Gama was now an admiral, a viceroy and ambassador to the newly discovered lands. The book thoroughly discusses the war between religions and an enterprising campaign that was about to change the world in next few centuries.There are many aspects of history that we aren't taught in the school. Growing up in India, all you learn is that Vasco da Gama discovered India to find spices. You're rarely told about the politics among the Europeans, the war between religions and our own black spots in history. It's a wonderful book that explains how the world became what it is like.

This book is big and bulky. That makes it a little unwieldy. Should have been in hardback. The history in it is highly readable and wide-sweeping.

This book has lots of research done for its sake. It does not just talk about Gama's voyages (although it does a great deal about them). Half the book is dedicated to explain the origins of the never ending war between ISLAM and CHRISTIANITY and what made the Portuguese take up such a long deadly journey half way around the world in search of INDIA and its fabled riches.

The Last Crusade: The Epic Voyages of Vasco Da Gama. Nigel Cliff. Harper Perennial, 2012. 560 pages.If you ever need feel the need to pick up a readable historical text that covers the Age of Exploration, specifically Portugal's rise and fall as a world power, then Nigel Cliff's The Last Crusade is the book for you. It reads like a novel, but it is a thorough history European exploration and imperialism in the 15th and 16th centuries. The main focus is Vasco da Gama and his voyages to establish a Portuguese trade route to and relationship with India, voyages that led him to be the first European to successfully reach the subcontinent by sailing around Africa, but da Gama is not even mentioned until about page 150. First, Cliff relates the history of the rise of Islam, Islam's movement into Europe, the European resistance, and the series of Holy Wars launched by Popes and Kings to destroy Islamic control over the Holy Land. Eventually, Portugal and Spain emerged as the self-appointed chief defenders and promoters of the "True Faith." Cliff argues that Vasco da Gama's voyage to India wasn't just driven by the desire for spices and other riches for the Portugese Crown. In fact, da Gama was tapped to lead a new Crusade against Islam, with orders to destroy Muslim military and commercial influence in East Africa and Asia.What transpired was one misadventure and misunderstanding after another. Da Gama mistakenly believed that India was full of Christians. OK, they were strange Christians that treated cows with reverence and decorated their temples with strange "saints" and "angels" with multiple faces, heads, limbs, but they had to be Christians, right? I mean, there were only Christians and Muslims in the world, right? The luxury goods the Portuguese brought to trade for spices, gold, and precious jewels, were sneered at viewed as garbage by the Indians.The Last Crusade is an epic history of the "Age of Discovery" and a new interpretation. It is as history should be, great storytelling.

This is a splendid read. You get a terrific sense of what it was like on Gama's voyage. The opening chapters that set up the context are superbly well done.

Love

An enjoyable story

Cobre uma área pouco conhecida pelos brasileiros . Leitura fascinante, muito bem pesquisada. Recomendo vivamente a todos que se interessam pela história de Portugal e Brasil.