Amerigo
The Man Who Gave His Name to America

3 1/2 stars. On Columbus Day Eve, I finished this book about his friend and rival, the man who inexplicably gave his name to two continents. Something less than biography, Amerigo mostly dissects the claims made by and about the explorer, to more accurately find his appropriate place in history. Like......more

'Why should someone read about Amerigo, it might be to late for a reader who has made it this far' the author writes near the end of the book. Overall it is a mediocre book, not really due to the author but the subject material, Florentine Vespuccci was raised during the time of Lorenzo the magnific......more

"Amerigo Vespucci, who gave his name to America, was a pimp in his youth and a magus in his maturity," writes Felipe Fernández-Armesto. His subject is reminiscent of Melville's confidence man, a figure of protean energy and inventiveness, a Florentine operator constantly on the make and adept at the......more

Vespucci will never be as well-known as Columbus, but Fernandez-Arnesto's portrait gives a face to the man who gave his name to America. This slim biography of Amerigo Vespucci makes the most of a maddeningly slim body of primary materials. The author relies on contextual criticism and cultural and f......more

I have always wanted to know more about Amerigo Vespucci but have never stumbled upon anything until now. I guess it was because April 25, 2007 was the 500th anniversary of the naming of America that this book was released. As there is surprisingly little documentation about Vespucci, the author atte......more