Conquest of Eden, 1493-1515: Other Voyages of Columbus, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Virgin Islands

Mr. Paiewonsky's terrific account and rich accompaniment with period art, valuable maps and charts, and contemporary perspective, gives us all a chance to review this history with new eyes. As a Virgin Islander, Mr. Paiewonsky, was raised in a family that has for generations collected the history, art, and artifacts associated with the region. Finally we get reasonable interpretaions of the accounts of the New World process of discovery and indeed conquest. His understanding of this is all the more valuable because of his local knowledge, just from growing up in the region. He has sailed the routes, accompanied the archeological digs, and can interpret the art and the drawings of the old cartographers.The description of the Reefbay petroglyphs on St. John alone, from this author, is worth the price of the book, which will no doubt become an historial treasure of its own one day.

This book is a gem. The sad results of the encounter of the Spanish with the indiginous population of the Caribbean Islands is presented objectively and the few accounts of the Tiano Peoples' own words are effectively used to hint at who these early victims of European expansion really were. The use of modern photos and historic illustrations opens up the real lost world where these events unfolded and every illustration adds to and interacts with the text. The result is both a good read and a rigerous scholarly introduction to the foundations of the American experiance. This is the first work of its kind that interperts the historic documents as understood by an island inhabitant who understands details the first explorer encountered from personal experiance.

History books on the voyages of Columbus can only take you so far -- until now. This book really ties the historical details together with the drama and adventure that the original explorers must have felt. It is impossible to put this book down -- for the reader interested in history or for the person seeking an adventure.