Reviews
A readable and vivid portrayal of everyday life of seamen on the Indies route.
The author makes commanding use of the material in the great range of archive and other sources he has mined to write a vivid and detailed account of all aspects of the day-to-day working of this great maritime endeavour by Spain... This is one of the best currently available studies of 16th century maritime life, combining impeccable scholarship with entertaining readability.
The book opens up a raucous and rollicking past world, extracting touching human notes from very old historical documents.
Pérez-Mallaína writes in an easily read style, often humorous and wry, that makes this book, unlike many a dry history tome, a pleasure to read.
One of the greatest achievements of Spain's Men of the Sea is the depth of research and richness in detail. Pérez-Mallaína supports his colourful narrative with ample examples of cases found in the archives, cases of human frailty, human greed, and human resilience. It is to the author's credit that many sixteenth-century characters come to life in this text, either through extensive description and examination of documented events, or through some equally fascinating illustrations of the period.
Provides an important reminder that it was Spain which carved out the first world empire.
A fascinating and comprehensive study... I am pleased to give it my strong recommendation.
An incredibly valuable work... It is a pity readers without a command of the Spanish language were forced to wait so long to read it.
Fascinating, charmingly written book.
Provides students and scholars with a fascinating read and will serve as a rich sea chest full of anecdotes for lectures.
Professor Pérez-Mallaína has written a detailed and scholarly account of the lives of the men who sailed on the Carrera de Indias and his book will be of interest not only to historians of Spain and her relationship with her American colonies but also to students of Spanish literature in the Siglo de Oro.