The explorer, Christopher Columbus, is famous for reaching the Americas and opening up a new world to European pioneers. But though his determination and skills were second to none, he eventually fell out of favour at home and abroad, and was unwelcome even in the very colonies he’d founded. Contrary to popular misconception, Columbus never set foot in what is now the continental United States, and nor did he seek to prove that the Earth was round.

So, how did Columbus’ voyages change the world? What motivated a young man from Italy to endanger his life on behalf of the Spanish government? And how much responsibility can we put at the feet of one man for the suffering that colonialism brought to America’s indigenous people? 

This is a Short History Of Christopher Columbus.

A Noiser Production. Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Douglas Hunter, author of several books about the history of exploration, including The Race to the New World.  

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