Biographies

This classic, by Jean Fritz covers the era of exploration from 1421 to 1522. Like most Jean Fritz books, this one is charmingly illustrated with maps, portraits, and scenes of the period. Jean tells 10 tales of famous explorers and their exploits: Prince Henry the Navigator, Bartholomew Diaz, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Pedro Cabral, John Cabot, Amerigo Vespucci, Ponce de Leon, Vasco de Balboa, and Ferdinand Magellan. This book makes an excellent addition to any study of the Renaissance.

In this brief and incisive book, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills tells the story of the "Confessions"--what motivated Augustine to dictate it, how it asks to be read, and the many ways it has been misread in the one-and-a-half millennia since it was composed. Following Wills's biography of Augustine and his translation of the "Confessions," this is an unparalleled introduction to one of the most important books in the Christian and Western traditions.

"In a simple, short biography of Columbus she has been extraordinarily successful in extracting the essence of the man." -- "The Horn Book." "Fritz's unconventional look at the great explorer who accidently discovered the New World reveals the navigator's obstinate as well as his visionary side." -- "School Library Journal"