Challenge the Wind

By Christine Echeverria Bender

Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for Caxton Press Experience the world of 1492 through the eyes of a young Basque adventurer who, born to a family of whalers, feels the calling of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870044222
• ISBN13: 9780870044229
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Caxton Press
• Length: 380 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Voyage You Will Never Forget

Challenge the Wind, by Christine Echeverria Bender, is a remarkable trip back in time with Christopher Columbus as he sets sail for the Indies in 1492. This adventure begins in an ancient cave with Domingo Laca, a boy who has climbed high above his Basque whaling village in northern Spain in order to think and be among the drawings and artifacts of his ancestors. Most everyone knows of Columbus, but few people know of the Basques and the charts of their secret whaling grounds that would lead this navigator on his journey or how Columbus struggled for years to receive permission and the money to make this voyage and then to pull together the fleet and the crew of the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. This is no ordinary voyage, but one that is heading into the unknown, where turbulent seas can sink ships and end the lives of both captain and crew. Dangers and discomfort are constant companions, and sailors grow hungry and resentful as days drag on. Who are these sailors who wonder if they will ever reach the Great Khan and his land of spices and silks, or if they will ever see home and their loved ones again? Finally land is spotted, but what awaits the weary, ragged crew? What will their arrival mean for those who inhabit these new lands? Experience history through the lives of these travelers. Learn what it's like to handle the tiller of the Santa Maria and then later to cower in the stench-filled hold to wait out a raging, terrifying storm that threatens to sink the ship at any moment. Bender's careful research, including the study of captain's logs written by Christopher Columbus himself, her attention to detail, and her vivid, convincing style bring this book to life. Though over 600 years have passed, you will feel like one of the crew, and you will experience not only the discoveries, but the thrills and the terrors, the joys and the sufferings of this exploration that changed the course of history forever.

Experience the Voyage

Challenge the Wind is absolutely a joy to read. It not only offers up historical perceptions of Christopher Columbus's voyage but, far more, it lets you into the intimacies of what it must of been like to be part of his crew. That history and those intimacies are touched through the cultural heritage of the Basque people...their honor, their pride, their way of life. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be on a ship feeling salt spray on your face and hearing its rigging struggle against an ocean storm, then you need to read Challenge the Wind.

A book that redefines the genre...

Challenge The Wind is a vivid masterwork of historical fiction that brings to life the world of a fifteenth-century Basque adventurer, and does so with a great deal of accuracy and perspective. The author's extensive research is evident in the rich, detailed background into which she skillfully weaves this exciting and emotional tale. Challenge The Wind represents a historical and cultural renaissance that will force the reader to reconsider the very nature of personal, religious, and national identity.