1492: The Year and the Era

by Barnet Litvinoff

Barnet Litvinoff argues that the most significant year of the last ten centuries falls halfway through the millenium. In 1492 Europe, newly revitalized as the Renaissance swept northward from Italy, was never before a centre of intellectual excellence, of geographical exploration or of trade. But it took the voyage of Christopher Columbus to fully establish the destiny of this Western promontory of the Eurasian landmass. Only with his discovery of America were the ancient countries which made up Europe to assume a global role. This narrative history describes a landscape both savage and sublime. Across a whole continent we see the greatest elements of life played out, often in contradiction; war dominates the scene, but against this an irrepressible creative force urges the humanist impulse forward to new horizons in literature and art. The clash of personal ambition is typified by the confrontation of the Medici and the Borgias in strife-torn Italy - which at the same time nurtured Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. The story includes the accidents of royal birth and death through which the Hapsburgs became the first Christian dynasty to bestride the globe. At the same time the church Universal was at its most decadent, ripe for Reformation. This was the background to Columbus' voyage, which was to give Europe new transoceanic dimension. The immediate practical consequences are explored; the factors which combined to enable Europe to resist Islamic conquest and remain Christian; the new trading possibilities which were to give birth to the European Empires. The author has also written "The Burning Bush" and "Antisemitism and World History".

Genres: History

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 1991

Reviews

[Stephen Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year 1492 marks turning point in geopolitics. For seven centuries Islamic powers had controlled the trade routes between Asia and Europe, particularly the lucrative spice trade. In 1492, however, the tables were turned, when the Christian kingdoms of Aragon and Castile in Spain conquered the Muslim Kingdom of Granada, and thus controlled access to the Atlantic Ocean.

In the same year Christopher Columbus pioneered the trade route to the Americas (though he never knew it, and till his death thought he had discovered a new route to Asia). Six years later Vasco da Gama pioneered the sea route to India, thus enabling European merchants to bypass the Islamic middle men.

Barnet Litvinoff gives a concise view of the political, technological and cultural changes that made this possible. It is not a pretty story. The wheeling, dealing back stabbing and betrayals that dominated European diplomacy and politics at the time makes The Game of Thrones look like something written by Enid Blyton.

[Joseph Golias · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barnet Litvinoff attempts a very ambitious undertaking in this history. While he does a good job at detailing the political intrigue and conflict centered around the year 1492 the book seems to lose focus. Lotvinoff spends much of his narrative detailing European designs on Italy, which is fascinating, but he never truly makes his case for the supposed thesis of the work, the transformation of European society from medievalism into modernism. It is obvious the book was timed to take advantage of the 500 year anniversary of Columbus's voyage, but it becomes more of a muddled history of European dynastic ambition and the fragmentation of Italy than of a true study in the remarkable intellectual and political transformation of the renaissance and Reformation. Although an interesting narrative, in the end it falls short of it's stated goal.

[Bender · Rating 1 out of 5]

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[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book does a lot to put things from that important time in European history into perspective.