Admiral of the Ocean Sea - a Life of Christopher Columbus

Samuel Eliot Morison

Read Books, 2007 - Biography & Autobiography - 700 pages

This book Presents Columbus in a realistic and non-idealised manner. It logically disputes theories that have been used to disparage Columbus, yet honestly portrays his treatment of the native Americans he encountered. Having spent 2 years travelling the sea routes that Columbus pioneered you get a sense of the adventure, excitement and boredom that Columbus and his men must of felt. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

What people are saying

Review: Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus

User Review  - Fredrick Danysh - Goodreads

Morison chronicles the voyages to the New World of Christopher Columbus. He covers the events leading to the first voyage and continues through Columbus' return to Spain as a prisoner.

Review: Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus

User Review  - Ronald Kohlin - Goodreads

Still reading (CC is just planning his 2nd voyage) but this book (written before I was born) is one of the most interesting reads ever. Morison makes the reader feel like he's in the day. 10-6: Google ...

About the author

Samuel Eliot Morison was born in Boston in 1887. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1912 and began teaching history there in 1915, becoming full professor in 1925 and Jonathan Trumbull professor of American history in 1941. He served as the university's official historian and wrote a three-volume history of the institution, the Tercentennial History of Harvard College and University, which was completed in 1936. Between 1922 and 1925 he was Harmsworth professor of American history at Oxford. He also was an accomplished sailor who retired from the navy in 1951 as a rear admiral. In preparing for his Pulitzer Prize-winning biographies of Christopher Columbus and John Paul Jones, Admiral of the Ocean Sea (1941) and John Paul Jones: A Sailor's Biography (1952) he took himself out of the study and onto the high seas, where he traced the voyages of his subjects and "lived" their stories insofar as possible. When it came time for the U.S. Navy to select an author to write a history of its operations in World War II, Morison was the natural choice for the task. In 1942, Morison was commissioned by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to write a history of U.S. naval operations in World War II and given the rank of lieutenant commander. The 15 volumes of his History of United States Naval Operations in World War II appeared between 1947 and 1962. Although he retired from Harvard in 1955, Morison continued his research and writing. A product of the Brahmin tradition, Morison wrote about Bostonians and other New Englanders and about life in early Massachusetts. He was an "American historian" in the fullest sense of the term. He also had a keen appreciation for the larger history of the nation and world, provincial is the last word one would use to describe Morison's writing.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Admiral of the Ocean Sea - a Life of Christopher Columbus
• Author: Samuel Eliot Morison
• Publisher: Read Books, 2007
• ISBN: 1406750271, 9781406750270
• Length: 700 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Adventurers & Explorers; Biography & Autobiography / General; Biography & Autobiography / Historical