Trade and Empire in the Atlantic 1400-1600 [Hardcover]

Trade and Empire in the Atlantic 1400-1600 provides an accessible and concise introduction to European expansion overseas during the early modern period. It explains why and how seafarers visited the Caribbean, South America and Africa, and looks at the history of the communities that lived around the ocean as they responded to the challenges and opportunities which sea trade opened for them.
Historical thinking on the subject of Empire is naturally controversial as is shown by this survey of the first four stages of early Atlantic colonisation from the conquest of the Canary Islands to the creation of slave plantations in Brazil. This history of the Atlantic Empires is an authoritative introduction to an essential topic in world history.An accessible and concise introduction to European expansion overseas during the early modern period. It is the ideal guide to a controversial and essential topic of world history.Introduction 1. Colonising the Atlantic islands 2. The merchandise of Africa 3. Spain and the ocean crossing 4. Portugal and the South Atlantic; EpilogueDavid Birmingham is Professor of Modern History at the University of Kent at Canterbury.US? 2000 David Birmingham