Conquerors. How the Portuguese Built the First World Empire

The book by British historian Roger Crowley is dedicated to the era of great conquests and geographical discoveries of the 15th and 16th centuries. In less than thirty years of the reign of King Manuel I, Portuguese navigators managed to tame the winds of the Atlantic, conquer the oceans, and establish themselves in uncharted lands - Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India, Pedro Álvares Cabral reached the shores of South America, Francisco de Almeida became the first viceroy of India, and Afonso de Albuquerque founded colonies in the Persian Gulf and Malacca. The author vividly and brightly describes the lives and exploits of these fearless sailors, shipwrecks, naval battles, and other harsh trials that befell the founders of the first global empire. Roger Crowley also talks about navigation and shipbuilding, trade, diplomacy, and the development of science during the Portuguese expansion period, which marked the beginning of the Modern Age.