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On Savage Shores
- How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe
- Narrated by: Caroline Dodds Pennock
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
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On Savage Shores
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Summary
We have long been taught to presume that modern global history began when the 'Old World' encountered the 'New', when Christopher Columbus 'discovered' America in 1492. But, as Caroline Dodds Pennock conclusively shows in this groundbreaking audiobook, for tens of thousands of Aztecs, Maya, Totonacs, Inuit and others - enslaved people, diplomats, explorers, servants, traders - the reverse was true: they discovered Europe. For them, Europe comprised savage shores, a land of riches and marvels, yet perplexing for its brutal disparities of wealth and quality of life, and its baffling beliefs. The story of these Indigenous Americans abroad is a story of abduction, loss, cultural appropriation, and, as they saw it, of apocalypse - a story that has largely been absent from our collective imagination of the times.
From the Brazilian king who met Henry VIII to the Aztecs who mocked up human sacrifice at the court of Charles V; from the Inuk baby who was put on show in a London pub to the mestizo children of Spaniards who returned 'home' with their fathers; from the Inuit who harpooned ducks on the Avon river to the many servants employed by Europeans of every rank: here are a people who were rendered exotic, demeaned, and marginalised, but whose worldviews and cultures had a profound impact on European civilisation. Drawing on their surviving literature and poetry and subtly layering European eyewitness accounts against the grain, Pennock gives us a sweeping account of the Indigenous American presence in, and impact on, early modern Europe.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic reviews
"A thrilling, beautifully written and important book that changes how we look at transatlantic history, finally placing Indigenous peoples not on the side-lines but at the centre of the narrative. Highly recommended." (Peter Frankopan)
"An untold story of colonial history, both epic and intimate, and a thrilling revelation, not about the invasion of the Americas by Europeans, but the journeys of Indigenous people to Europe. Caroline Dodds Pennock is the perfect guide, cannily and eloquently shifting the axis of global history away from its Eurocentric grip." (Adam Rutherford)
"On Savage Shores is mind-blowing, and it's an important contribution to struggle for a fair and more balanced telling of history - I felt genuinely enlightened. Dodds Pennock is a truth teller of the highest order, and a first class communicator. This is how history should be told." (Benjamin Zephaniah)
What listeners say about On Savage Shores
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- C & B
- 21-01-23
A Fascinating Listen
This book vividly brings to life the indigenous people, from all over the Americas, who travelled to Europe in the late 15th and 16th centuries. It changes the way we think of the 'Discovery of America". I would recommend downloading the attached .pdf before you start reading.
It is beautifully written and read by the author.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Peter K.
- 04-05-23
A Worthy and Informative Read
An excellently researched book that brings previously unexplored issues to life in a new way. Makes you think about the past differently. Well worth a listen . Passionately presented.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Ms. M. Quinn
- 06-04-23
A real challenge of what we think we know
I absolutely adored this book. I’d been excited about it for some time and it didn’t disappoint. I am ashamed of how little of this I knew and it is a much read/listen to really enlighten people about indigenous travel to Europe. It is such a necessary reframing of the story and one that I am excited about exploring as a history teacher. I also loved the narration from the author, I always think it immerses you in the book even more when the person who has written it is reading it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- veyza
- 24-03-23
A new perspective
This fascinating book tells the story of the eastward journeys made by native peoples during the early colonisation of the Americas. I had no idea there were so many. It gave me a totally new perspective. The stories also provide an excellent vehicle to explore wider issues such as slavery, colonialism and ownership of cultural heritage, which resonate loudly in the present day.
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- krs
- 14-02-23
Interesting and necessary
Thought provoking and a needed text to address the complexities of how different societies encountered each other historically
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- simon beale
- 27-01-23
Foregrounding the Indigenous experience
Loved this book. Listened to it alongside the kindle version. Dodds Pennock reads her work with clear enthusiasm and it enhances the messages delivered. I think "The Stuff of Life" chapter was my favourite as I am particularly interested in Material Culture & Food History. It was clear that this is only the scratching the surface of what happened between indigenous Americans & Europeans but this is all the sources can tell us.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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- Mark H
- 21-01-23
Caveat emptor
This book is well written and well read by the author, who is an academic expert on Aztec history. Its views are fashionable and the speculation and conjecture of the author take you on what seems like a mythical journey in a way that is persuasive and interesting. It portrays the colonisation of South America from the perspective of indigenous people. Some of whom were taken back to Europe, and the book presents their views of what they encountered. However, in the introduction, the author explained the difficulty in obtaining such views and said that she had “to tentatively suggest what they thought about it, given their background”. In other words, some of these indigenous people’s views are really the authors views from the twenty-first centuries perspective. This is where I had a problem, as there was simply too much speculation for me. Is this book meant to be a factual, academic, historical account? Or is it an entertaining, complex, work of historical faction aimed at bringing the past to life? I am not an historian so I could not answer such questions.
After listening to the audio book, I did a search and discovered a recent review of this book by the eminent historian Professor Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, in the Jan 2023 Spectator. His review is rather cutting. He says “ Unhelpfully, Caroline Dodds Pennock excludes indigenous people’s archives as a means of illuminating their feelings. She mistakenly supposes that ‘we rarely are able to hear indigenous voices’”. And, “Instead, she falls back on putting thoughts into their heads, or speculating on what they ‘must’ have felt. Woke nonsense warps her vision. She deprives native people of the power to craft their own destinies by portraying them chiefly as victims of the conquistadors”.
Rarely have I read a book where caveat emptor applies, but here I think it does.
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