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THE NINE LIVES OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

Matthew Restall

Two thousand books have been written about Columbus, most of them spirited defenses or relentless attacks. Recently, the balance has shifted: the Genoese navigator, once considered a hero, is now blamed for bringing plunder and genocide to the Americas.
In The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus, historian Matthew Restall takes us beyond polemic, sifting through the evidence across nations, languages, and five centuries to explore the central questions of Columbiana. He demonstrates that we know a great deal about Columbus's life, and what we know shows that Columbus was not nearly as remarkable as many have assumed?or as he himself believed. But his afterlives are another story: Restall narrates the international contest over Columbus's bones and the dozens of regional and national claims on his birthplace (some turning him into a secret Jew), examines how he became an American hero and then a hero of Italian Americans, and more. The result is a kaleidoscopic account of a single man that becomes a new history of the modern world.

Matthew Restall is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Anthropology and director of Latin American studies at Penn State University. He is the author of Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest and When Montezuma Met Cortés: The True Story of the Meeting That Changed History, among other books.
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Published 2025-10-01 by W. W. Norton

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The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus by Matthew Restall Delightful..a kind of collage biography, spotlessly conducted by an authority who manages to master the vast Columbiana literature while still keeping an eye on TikTok for the latest Columbus memes. It's an oddly spellbinding performance, easily as involving as any more straightforward biography of the man could be. Read more...

In this compelling book, Matthew Restall comprehensively dismantles the myths surrounding Christopher Columbus while simultaneously revealing their power and importance for understanding his ever-changing legacy. A fascinating read for anyone seeking to understand how history is made, contested, and remembered.

I found The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus to be a marvelous fusion of ingenuity and scholarship, a kaleidoscope of the explorer's provocative legacies.

I thought there were too many books on Columbus until I read Matthew Restall's?which has made me realize that formerly there were at least nine too few. He brings a fresh approach, an original touch, a lively eye, a delightful style, and a sense of humor to every subject he broaches. Innovation in Columbus studies is usually contrived, sensationalist, or otherwise unconvincing. Matthew Restall's will have an impact and?I hope?change readers' minds because it's disciplined by common sense, erudition, commitment to objectivity and fairness, and, above all, scrupulous fidelity to the sources.