“I thought there were too many books on Columbus until I read Matthew Restall’s — which has made me realize that formerly there were at least nine too few. He brings a fresh approach, an original touch, a lively eye, a delightful style, and a sense of humor to every subject he broaches. Innovation in Columbus studies is usually contrived, sensationalist, or otherwise unconvincing. Restall’s will have an impact and—I hope—change readers’ minds because it is disciplined by common sense, erudition, commitment to objectivity and fairness, and, above all, scrupulous fidelity to the sources.”
―Felipe Fernández-Armesto, author of 1492: The Year Our World Began
“In this compelling book, Matthew Restall comprehensively dismantles the myths surrounding Christopher Columbus while simultaneously revealing their power and importance for understanding his ever-changing legacy. A fascinating read for anyone seeking to understand how history is made, contested, and remembered.”
―Caroline Dodds Pennock, author of On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe
“I found The Nine Lives of Columbus to be a marvelous fusion of ingenuity and scholarship, a kaleidoscope of the explorer’s provocative legacies.”
―Laurence Bergreen, author of Columbus: The Four Voyages
“By examining the myths surrounding his legacy, Restall puts Columbus back into the context of his time.”
—Booklist
W. Norton announces the publication of
The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus by Matthew Restall
Why can’t we stop talking about Christopher Columbus?
Cristoforo Colombo, Cristóbal Colón, near-saint, genocidal explorer, grandfather of the Americas: Columbus has been named a dozen times over, and each title boasts a slurry of evidence backing its claim. They can’t all be true. So where do these myths come from? In his revealing new book, THE NINE LIVES OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS (W. W. Norton and Company, October 7, 2025; hardcover $35.00), award-winning author and historian Matthew Restall unpacks Columbus’ enduring cultural and political presence while weaving a new history of the modern world.
During a stay in Galicia, Spain, Restall was startled to encounter a local castle claiming to be Columbus’ true birthplace. Locals insisted that Columbus, an Italian by birth, was born and raised in Galicia under the name of a local lord, Pedro Álvarez de Soutomaior. Despite teaching and writing about Columbus for decades, this claim was a revelation to Restall, inspiring him to visit archives and monuments on both sides of the Atlantic. Thus began an in-depth investigation into the stories swirling around Columbus nearly six centuries after his birth.
In the years since Columbus “sailed the ocean blue in 1492,” his journey and its consequences have gained notoriety across the globe. By exploring, illuminating, and presenting the many Columbuses and their controversies as “nine lives,” Restall tugs apart our misconceptions about the historical figure of Columbus, his exceptionalism, and his culpability for colonial violence in the Americas.
Born in Genoa to a local cloth weaver, Columbus had an unextraordinary childhood. He left as a young man to pursue a maritime career – which would eventually lead him to the Spanish court of Queen Isabel and King Fernando where he received the lofty title “Admiral of the Ocean Sea.” In the years after Columbus’ 1506 death, the mythology surrounding his life blossomed. From contentious debates over the location and possession of his remains to the campaign for his beatification in the 19th century, Columbus loomed large. In addition to exploding Columbus myths and contextualizing Columbus stories—both notorious and obscure—Restall tackles the most confounding of such stories, including reports of bestiality, alternate origin stories (some arguing he was secretly Jewish), and the persistent rumor that he had an affair with his patron, Isabel of Castile. Columbus’ position as both hero and anti-hero in the American imagination has its own many lives – Washington Irving’s overly imaginative 1820s biography of Columbus hastened his reputation as a founding grandfather to the United States, presenting a swashbuckling, charming Columbus who bore little resemblance to the man himself.
As he deconstructs modern narratives around Columbus, Restall also tells a story about contemporary society, American self-conceptions, and the importance of rigorous historical accounting. This definitive portrait of Columbus and his afterlife engage a storied subject with fresh and surprising insights.