Geography is probably the most neglected if not ignored subject in the training of historians. We have been singularly fortunate, however, in the harvest of investigations on the discovery period made by geographers of the last generation.
G. R. Crone, the former librarian and map curator of the Royal Geographical Society, has written a sober and sensible account of the period with well-reasoned conclusions. The tone of the work is established in the Introduction, where he maintains that “it is necessary to take a wider view than excessive concentration on the doings of one individual, if a rounded view of the Age of Discovery is to be obtained” (p. xiii). Logically, therefore, he commences his study with a discussion of the medieval world, a chapter on the Irish and Norse navigations, and another on Portuguese voyages— those important forerunners to later trans-Atlantic journeys—before relating and evaluating the voyages and accomplishments of Christopher Columbus and those who followed him to the New World. He discusses the Vinland Map and places it in proper perspective. This elucidation may not contribute either heat or light to the question of the document’s value, but we have certainly had enough of the former.
Crone is hardly an idolater of Columbus. In his evaluation of the Admiral he shares the opinions of a fellow geographer, Carl Sauer, that Columbus was gold-hungry and a failure as an administrator. As if this were not enough, Crone has added an essentially gratuitous appendix on the “Navigation and Cartography of the Discovery” in which he states that “Columbus was not a navigator or a seaman in the sense that, as a result of long experience, he had the capacity to sail and navigate a vessel without the services of a pilot or master” (p. 204). As might have been expected, these statements and opinions have drawn the fire of Samuel Eliot Morison (see New York Times, Book Review Section, October 26, 1969).
The book is well-written and contains a short but excellent bibliography which lists the best of the books and periodical literature, the latter a rarity in current publications aimed at a wide readership. Of necessity a limited amount of space is devoted to individual explorers. However, this book is valuable precisely because it is not a mere catalogue of voyages. “The Atlantic,” Crone writes, “was not simply the conquest of space; it necessitated overcoming a great complex of natural phenomena of global range . . .and a general understanding of these features is necessary” (p. 11). One cannot help but agree.
I could criticize the chapter organization and arrangement, which struck me as somewhat disjointed, but others may find it logical. There is one matter, however, which seemed to me extremely parochial. Crone writes that “the Spanish Church was known for its conservatism; its general attitude was similar to that of those who feel today that governments and scientists would be better advised to concentrate on problems of the world, rather than devote so much of their resources to placing men on the moon” (p. 62). “Those” would be shocked to find themselves so bracketed and classified.
