2.

1493

THE TRUE IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

Columbus is above all the figure with

whom the Modern Age—the age by

which we may delineate these past

500 years—properly begins, and in

his character as in his exploits we

are given an extraordinary insight

into the patterns that shaped the age

at its start and still for the most part

shape it today.

—KIRKPATRICK SALE^1

As a subject for research, the

possibility of African discovery of

America has never been a tempting

one for American historians. In a

sense, we choose our own history, or

more accurately, we select those

vistas of history for our

examinations which promise us the

greatest satisfaction, and we have

had little appetite to explore the