{"product_id":"9780571290901","title":"Conquerors","description":"As  remarkable as Columbus and the conquistador expeditions, the history of  Portuguese exploration is now almost forgotten. But Portugal's  navigators cracked the code of the Atlantic winds, launched the  expedition of Vasco da Gama to India and beat the Spanish to the spice  kingdoms of the East - then set about creating the first long-range  maritime empire. In an astonishing blitz of thirty years, a handful of  visionary and utterly ruthless empire builders, with few resources but  breathtaking ambition, attempted to seize the Indian Ocean, destroy  Islam and take control of world trade.Told with Roger  Crowley's customary skill and verve, this is narrative history at its  most vivid - an epic tale of navigation, trade and technology, money and  religious zealotry, political diplomacy and espionage, sea battles and  shipwrecks, endurance, courage and terrifying brutality. Drawing on  extensive first-hand accounts, it brings to life the exploits of an  extraordinary band of conquerors - men such as Afonso de Albuquerque,  the first European since Alexander the Great to found an Asian empire -  who set in motion five hundred years of European colonisation and  unleashed the forces of globalisation.","brand":"Roger Crowley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45784456823102,"sku":"9780571290901","price":402.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4357\/7662\/products\/9780571290901_b05546dc-ff47-43ea-b44e-56732f8b1e88.jpg?v=1707295404","url":"https:\/\/exclusivebooks.co.za\/products\/9780571290901","provider":"Exclusive Books Online","version":"1.0","type":"link"}