SEA ROAD TO THE INDIES

An examination, documented by contemporary accounts, of Portugal's sea power, begun by Prince Henry, the Navigator and ending with the epochal voyages of Vasco da Gama, this fills in the background of the period and presents vivid biographies of the country's great seamen. There are the conditioning forces which sent the Portuguese navigators over the deep sea, the accomplishments of each which built up to the armada that Dom Vasco captained -- the armada that did prove there was a sea road to the Indies, which became the chosen route until the building of the Suez Canal. But for all the importance of Dom Vasco's three amazing expeditions, the whirlwind his later followers reaped through his ruthless, cruel, selfish, untrustworthy actions is shown in contrast. A report not only for historians but also for those whose interest has to do with feats of seamanship, this is comprehensive in its coverage of an era and its outstanding, intrepid sailors.