The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy

Kirkpatrick Sale. Plume Books, $14 (464pp) ISBN 978-0-452-26669-8

This demythologizing biographical adventure credits Columbus with the birth of American slavery and Euro-colonialism, and examines how peaceful Native Americans saw their societies and environments plundered by the whites' encroachments. Sale's ``wide-angled history represents a major rethinking of the relationship between Europe and America,'' said PW. (Sept.)

Featured Nonfiction Reviews

Craig Unger

Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign really did make a deal with Iran to delay the release of 52 American hostages until after the election, according to this labyrinthine Continue reading »

Edmund White

With his trademark irreverence, White (The Humble Lover) celebrates more than six decades of sex in a candid memoir that doubles as an indispensable work of queer history. A Continue reading »

Jason de León

Smugglers who help Central Americans traverse Mexico and cross into the U.S. are not the “slick haired... kingpins” portrayed in popular media but are usually themselves poor Continue reading »

Dorian Lynskey

This sweeping cultural history from journalist Lynskey (The Ministry of Truth) chronicles how films, novels, and other media have imagined the apocalypse from ancient times Continue reading »