The World Made New: Why the Age of Exploration Happened and How It Changed the World

Summary

Imagine your shock at waking up one morning to a fleet of enormous, otherworldly craft looming over you. And when bizarre aliens begin to emerge-speaking strange gibberish-your heart races even faster. Similar fears may have gripped New World inhabitants when diverse civilizations-separated by a vast ocean-first met. American natives once knew nothing of towering ships, galloping horses, thundering guns, or smallpox. From 1492 onward, however, waves of adventurers would give them a cruel introduction. And yet, ultimately, New World dwellers-together with their Old World counterparts-would become transformed by these global connections. Historian and author Marc Aronson-a Library Journal Best Book honoree and a Robert F. Sibert Award winner for excellence in nonfiction-teams up with John W. Glenn to give kids and their parents a fresh perspective on New World exploration. "Add this to Aronson's growing body of fine historical works that are changing how young readers think about history."-Kirkus Reviews "This splendid, exciting . account of the Age of Exploration relates events so dramatic that they would have been dismissed as implausible fiction if they hadn't actually happened. Don't think of this as 'just' a book for kids: children's parents will find it equally gripping and informative."-Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning UCLA professor