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"On March 8, 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen set sail from China. Its mission was "to proceed all the way to the ends of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas" and unite the whole world in Confucian harmony.". "When it returned in October 1423, the emperor had fallen, leaving China in political and economic chaos. The great ships were left to rot at their moorings and the records of their journeys were destroyed....

"The African presence in ancient America"--Jacket subtitle.

History professor Davis places American slavery in the broader global context as part of the world's first system of multinational production from which mass markets were served. American slaves from West Africa produced commodities that fueled European expansion and the settlement of America. At its peak, American slave labor helped to maximize production for international markets.

A sweeping, epic biography about a man and his times, Hernando de Soto begins shortly after Columbus's first voyage to the Americas. Born around 1500, Soto left home at fourteen for Central America, where he rose through the ranks of the conquistadors to become a feared and effective captain, slave trader, and political operative. In 1531, he joined forces with Francisco Pizarro in the conquest of the Incas, leading the vanguard to Cuzco as Pizarro's...