Overview

It was a red-tinted volcanic dome atop one of the planet's harshest and least accessible perches - the High Andes - but in its time was the object of universal envy. The silver within it symbolized the vast wealth unlocked by the Conquest of the New World and swept 16th century Europeans into a state of frenzied excitement and tragically abetted their ruthless religiously motivated war mongering. The mountain's redness went beyond geology and came to tragically stand for the blood of the untold numbers of Indians coerced into labouring within its shafts and handling great quantities of the treacherously noxious mercury so essential to wresting the coveted silver from its bowels. The great paradox is that Potosi's silver exposed men and women emerging from the Middle Ages to the mind-expanding possibilities of trade and adventure conducted on a hitherto unimaginable scale: Potosi-minted pieces of eight ended up in the pockets of Chinese silk merchants! It's a story that continues to have relevance to our contemporary word as we wrestle with the unintended consequences of globalization, technology, inequality and disregard of our environment.

Full Product Details

9780957646186

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Robert Henrey took up writing following a career in international financial consulting based in New York City. He studied languages at Oxford and with Bloodshot Mountain has brought together a lifelong interest in Hispanic culture and history with awareness of the challenge of human and economic development in the light of technological progress and the evolving role of money. In his previously published Through Grown Up Eyes (also with Polperro Heritage Press) he describes his varied life experience and how fate landed him, an unsuspecting eight-year old, in the starring role of the 1948 British film classic The Fallen Idol based on a Graham Green story and directed by Carol Reed. He and his wife live in Connecticut.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available