c.1000AD: Erik the Red's daughter heads south from Greenland1492: Columbus does not discover America1531: the Incas invade Europe
Freydis is the leader of a band of Viking warriors who get as far as Panama. Nobody knows what became of them...
Five hundred years later,Christopher Columbus is sailing for the Americas,dreaming of gold and conquest. Even when captured by Incas,his faith in his superiority and his mission is unshaken.
Thirty years after that,Atahualpa,the last Inca emperor,arrives in Europe. What does he find The Spanish Inquisition,the Reformation,capitalism,the miracle of the printing press,endless warmongering between the ruling monarchies,and constant threat from the Turks.
But most of all,downtrodden populations ready for revolution. Fortunately,he has a recent guidebook to acquiring power - Machiavelli's The Prince. It turns out he is very good at it. So,the stage is set for a Europe ruled by Incas and,when the Aztecs arrive on the scene,for a great war that will change history forever.
Civilisations is a wildly entertaining counterfactual story about the modern world,colonisation,empire-building and the eternal human quest for domination. It is an electrifying novel by one of Europe's most exciting writers.
Publisher: Vintage PublishingISBN: 9781529112818Number of pages: 320Weight: 260 gDimensions: 200 x 132 x 20 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Glorious,funny and profound'- Daily Telegraph
'A wild romp of a book that turns history on its head'- Guardian
'A bold and thrilling experiment in counter-factual history from a masterful storyteller'- Financial Times
'Characteristically ambitious,brilliant... combining all the pleasure of a period romp with vital questions about our shared origin stories... a triumph'- i
'A propulsive'counter-factual'romp... both dizzying and fun'- Claire Allfree,Metro
Laurent Binet
Laurent Binet lives and works in France,his first novelHHhHwas chosen as Waterstones Book of the Month and won France's prestigious Priz Goncourt du premier roman.
Visit the Laurent Binet author page
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