Documents the pre-Columbian presence of Africans in the New World, using the history of cotton, smoking and tobacco. Goes further to state that the African interactions with the New World were superior to those of the Europeans, as the Africans didn’t launch a destructive war on the native population. If Columbus wasn’t the discoverer of the New World (everyone from the Norwegians to the Chinese have made this claim), the author argues that the explorer’s real role in the world’s history is as the person who opened the Western hemisphere for Europeans. SC

Publisher: A & B
Paperback: 287 pages
Illustrated

Reopens the debate over the identity of Columbus. arguing that Columbus was most likely working for the Cathars, the Jews and the Moors instead of for Catholic Spain. The author argues this point by citing the fact that it was common for Christian heretics, in this case the Cathars, to use surnames that reflected their religious beliefs. One of the most common Cathar names, he claims, was Dove, which can be translated as Columbus. Also discussed is the very concept of discovery, as it’s well-known that Vikings had tried to set up colonies in the Newfoundland. The real question, he says, is did Columbus really “discover” anything? SC

Publisher: A & B
Paperback: 254 pages
Illustrated