Conquerors

How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire

By: Roger Crowley

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

As remarkable as Columbus and the conquistador expeditions but far more wide ranging, the dynamic burst of Portuguese voyaging at the start of the 16th century is one of the tipping points of world history: the moment that the world went global. Within a short time span, a tiny country whose population did not exceed a million created a maritime empire that stretched from Brazil to Nagasaki.

Conquerors tells the almost forgotten story of how Portugal's navigators cracked the code of the Atlantic winds, launched the expedition of Vasco da Gama to India, and beat the Spanish to the spice kingdoms of the East - then set about creating the first long-range maritime empire. In an astonishing blitz of 30 years, a handful of visionary empire builders, with few resources but breathtaking ambition, attempted to seize the Indian Ocean, destroy Islam, and take control of world trade. This is history at its most vivid - an epic tale of navigation, trade and technology, money and religious zealotry, political diplomacy and espionage, sea battles and shipwrecks, endurance, courage, and terrifying brutality. Drawing on extensive firsthand accounts, it brings to life the exploits of an extraordinary band of conquerors - men such as Afonso de Albuquerque, the first European since Alexander the Great to found an Asian empire - who set in motion the forces of globalization.

Portugal was the imperial pathfinder, the template for a wave of successors. Its empire connected the world and created a framework for profound interactions. It left a huge and long-lasting influence on the culture, food, flora, art, history, and languages of the globe. It marked the start of 500 years of domination by the West, which is only reversing now.

©2015 Roger Crowley (P)2015 Recorded Books

Loved this book

This is narrative history at its finest. It is superbly written, researched and narrated. I can't wait to tear through the rest of Crowley's catalogue, having discovered him on the "Tides Of History" podcast wherein he did an interview about this book. Bravo!

Fascinating, Detailed, Well-Written

Conquerors does a great job detailing the unlikely story of how a tiny nation, Portugal, became the first European country to reach, and for a time, dominate trade with the Indies. Through a combination of innovation, courage, religious mission, greed and brutality, this nation of 1 million set the stage for the era of European exploration and, eventually, dominion over much of the rest of the world. Highly recommended.

Fascinating and well told.

A fascinating story well told by Crowley. Not overly academic or weighed down by extraneous detail, it moves at a good pace.

Fascinating narrative detailing the advent of European colonialism

Crowley has tackled an imperative and lesser known topic of world history. How an insignificant European power used impeccable strategy and tremendous risk taking to brutalize, conquer and exploit a more economically prosperous part of the world, ushering in a new era in globalization and instigating the European age of colonialism.

great listen

loved it great detailed information. would recommend for any one who's interested in this time period.