Five centuries have passed since Christopher Columbus's famous voyage of 1492 and his place in history has never been so hotly debated. Columbus is blamed for everything from slavery and colonialism to the current state of the environment. He has been described as a megalomaniac, an incompetent seaman, an adulterer, an opportunist and a liar.

Yuri Rubinsky's and Marc Giacomelli's "Christopher Columbus Answers All Charges" gives the Admiral of the Ocean Sea' a voice so that he can defend himself against his accusers. Writing as a lonely old man in a villa in Valladolid, Columbus responds with bombast and wit to accusations that his voyages were religious expeditions disguised as voyages of business, that his voyages were business trips under the guise of sacred missions, and that he was obsessed by hats. To the charge That I Prayed for the deaths of my enemies, ' he answers: I have generally found that the death of an enemy, while a blessing, should not be considered a personal favour from the Almighty.' To the charge That I should have remained a cartographer, a calling in which I have some skill, ' his reply is: Without cartographers, there can be no progress. Without explorers, there can be no cartographers.' The resulting book is a humorous and provocative re-examination of Christopher Columbus's claims to fame.