The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama

A revisionist account of Vasco da Gama, discoverer of the India sea route, 1497–99.

A startling new interpretation of the myth and the reality of the life of one of the great figures of the 'Age of Discoverers'.Vasco da Gama (?1469–1524) is well known as one of a generation of discoverers, along with Magellan, Cabral, and Columbus. Yet little is known about his life, or about the context within which he 'discovered' the all-sea route to India in 1497–99. This book, based on a mass of published and unpublished sources in Portuguese and other languages, delineates Gama's career and social context, focusing on the delicate balance between 'career' and 'legend'. The book addresses broad questions of myth-building and nationalism, while never losing sight of Gama himself.