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by Charles Loftus Grant Anderson (Author)
Where empire, sea and human ambition meet. History leaps from these pages. Loftus Grant Anderson's Old Panama and Castilla Del Oro is a sweeping age of discovery narrative that illuminates Spanish conquest history across Panama, Darien, Veragua and the wider territories of colonial Latin America. This Panama exploration book follows the four voyages of Columbus, Balboa's discovery of the Pacific, the desperate search for a strait and the roots of early canal history; it also records the description of the aborigines of the isthmus, the sack of the city of Old Panama by Henry Morgan, the daring raids of Sir Francis Drake, and the story of the Scots colony on Caledonia Bay. Anderson combines meticulous attention to period detail with arresting scene-setting, producing new world discovery accounts that read with the drama of good narrative while remaining grounded in sober inquiry. The book charts the 16th-century Caribbean's violence and commerce, the rise of the old panama settlement, and the era's sea-rovers - buccaneers and pirates - whose exploits shaped imperial policy. An essential academic research resource and an inspired history enthusiasts gift, this volume is equally at home on a casual reader's coffee table and a collector's shelf; many have found it comparable to William H. Prescott in tone and ambition. As a literary and historical document, Anderson's study is a formative account of the new world discovery accounts that defined early Spanish colonial expansion. Its combination of narrative sweep and documentary detail makes it invaluable for students of colonial latin america, for anyone tracing the long history of early canal history, and for readers drawn to the drama of sea-borne adventure and statecraft. Readable yet rigorous, it bridges popular narrative and scholarly inquiry, rewarding casual readers, academic researchers, and collectors of classic literature alike. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions. Restored for today's and future generations. More than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure.
