Michael O'Keefe
Many promises to the Spanish royalty would provide the means for Christopher Columbus to achieve part of his personal goals. He did not discover the quickest route to China from Europe, but he did put his name in the history books for discovering America, even if it was actually Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. He did temporarily make himself a minor fortune. He made several more trips west and the last and lost voyage to the New World was in 1502.Instead of a movie presentation, this is a History Channel dramatized documentary narrated by Ed Herrmann. Filmed on location with re-creations of Columbus(Olegar Fedoro), his ships and his destinations. He would prove to be a great sailor, daring explorer, a madman and also a genocidal plunderer before he slowly died. He would discover gold and make himself governor of Hispaniola. He ruled hard and harshly and turned the natives against him. Most of his own men committed mutiny. He had tribal members annihilated and he himself died suffering gout, arthritis and other maladies.This documentary is very interesting and informative. Columbus was more than the heroic and successful explorer studied in school books. He died thinking he did find Asia west of Europe. His subsequent voyages each provided something of interest. Is there anyone else that thinks the History Channel is better than sitting peeking out a school window with glancing stares at the clock?
