Lois 's Reviews > Portugal History: Origins of Portugal, Early Inhabitants, Muslim Domination, Christian Reconquest, The Society and Its Environment, Ethnicity and Ethnic ... The Economy, Government. Culture, Touri

A few white colonialist almost racist views towards people of color in general but especially those from West Africa and South America. Which is why this has only 2 stars.
Lots of interesting historic tidbits.
First and foremost this book lays out the history of the beginning of the trade in West African peoples as chattel slaves. This starts off Mauritania in the 1450's and gets a boost as a form of income to rent out West Africsn divers. Europeans at this time do not know to swim much less dive.
With the discovery of North & South America this will grow into the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. I know this is commonly attributed to Arab North Africans but I'm not seeing evidence of that here.
I also had not realized how powerful Portugal was in the emerging global world. They stole and enslaved horribly but I did not realize they were first to do so.
Isabel of Castile sends Columbus in 1492 in a bid to compete with Portugal who sails around the Cape of good hope in 1490 (?) and successfully finds sm alternate route to India by 1494.
Columbus is only remembered more because of what develops later.
Lots of interesting info but scarce on details of Umayyad controlled future Portugal.