The Race to the New World

Every schoolchild knows that "in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue"-but what they don't teach you in history class is that he wasn't the only one. In The Race to the New World, Douglas Hunter tells for the first time the fascinating tale of how Christopher Columbus was embroiled in a high-stakes race with Venetian John Cabot to find a shortcut to the East-and how they found a New World that neither was looking for. Employing fresh research and new translations of critical documents, Hunter reveals the surprisingly intertwined lives of the fabled explorer and his forgotten rival, and provides a fresh perspective on the first years of the European discovery of the New World.

Douglas Hunter is the author of Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage that Redrew the Map of the New World, and God's Mercies: Rivalry, Betrayal, and the Dream of Discovery, a finalist for both the Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize and the Governor-General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction. He was awarded Canada's National Business Book Award for The Bubble and the Bear: How Nortel Burst the Canadian Dream. He is a doctoral candidate in history at York University, and is one of Canada's Vanier Scholars and the 2012 recipient of the William E. Taylor Fellowship, which recognizes Canada's outstanding doctoral candidate in social sciences and the humanities.

The World of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot Introduction Race to the New World Afterword Bibliography Notes on Selected Sources and Commentary