A good, old-fashioned account of Christopher Columbus's life and voyages. Written in the 1940s by a historian of the old school, and a seaman to boot, it is chock full of nautical references, terminology, and description. If you're bored easily by tacks and compass points and knots and winds and currents and sails and such, you'll find this boring. Morison and a group of scholars from Harvard sailed Columbus's routes in sailing ships in an attempt to identify his exact sailing route and ports of call. So there is much jumping back and forth from the 1490s/1500s to the 1930s/1940s. Which could be disappointing for those looking for a straight biography of Columbus (read Morison's abridgment of an abridgment Christopher Columbus, Mariner for a short account). Written at a time when Columbus was considered a hero, not the slaving, religious-maniac, white supremacist he is often depicted as today, Morison presents a heroesque picture of the Admiral. He is a brave man, a smart man, and one of the finest dead-reckoning sailors ever. And, Morison contends he wanted better relations with the Indians than eventually played out. Perhaps. It is a jarring portrait for those who have grown up on the "Columbus was evil" trope. Any serious scholar of Columbus must contend with Morison's biography (either this one-volume abridgment, or the two-volume behemoth), especially Morison's contentions on routes and landfalls (especially the first landfall in 1492). However, as a work of pure scholarship, Fernandez-Armesto's biography of Columbus is probably better and up-to-date, but this one has a certain novelistic quality that won it (the two-volume version, that is) the Pulitzer. ( )

Well researched pre revisionist account of Christopher Columbus bya a Pulitzer prize winning Historian ( )

1016 Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus, by Samuel Eliot Morison (read 31 Jul 1969) (Pulitzer Biography prize for 1943) I think one of the main reasons I read this book was because it won a Pulitzer Prize. I have read with much appreciation other Morison books, but my comment on this one was that I found it less rewarding than the biography of Henry Clay, by Glyndon G. Van Deusen, which I had read shortly before I read this book. ( )

This was a very good biography. Mr. Morris researched many original documents and other sources, as well as sailed the routes himself to get an idea of this man Columbus and what sort of man he was. He intersperses quotes from original documents, explains the sea terminology and geography of the land, as well as the difficulties of navigation and sailing in the 1400s. Through all of this, the story is very readable and at times, difficult to put down. ( )

Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Samuel Morison's 1942 Pulitzer Prize winning biography of Christopher Columbus, is still considered by many to be the best biography of Columbus.

Morison spent 2 years on a sailboat re-tracing Columbus' voyages bringing a first hand immediacy and perspective that gives it unusual authority on all technical aspects of sailing and navigation. In addition Morison was a Harvard history professor whose research of the written record is impeccable. Even before Columbus died in the early 16th century, there have been countless controversies and debates about many aspects of his life and voyages. Into this maelstrom of legend, myth and folklore - like the discover he writes about - Morison brings order, calm and reliable passage through one of the most fascinating and mythological figures of World History. ( )