The prevailing opinion of Columbus is that he was responsible for almost everything that went wrong in the New World, caused by his political and financial ambition.

This book challenges this belief showing that he was driven to find a western route to the Orient not only by the promise of vast wealth for the Spanish crown but by a personal mission to fund a new crusade. Carol Delaney places him in the context of his times, detailing remarkable events that struck Europe prior to Columbuss birth and bringing the challenges of ocean navigation to life. Ultimately, she reveals a man of religious conviction and astonishing determination.