Christopher Columbus has not yet had the movie he deserves, but I prefer the Fredric March version to the later movies.  And I recommend a brilliant and completely engrossing new book from biographer Laurence Bergreen called Columbus: The Four Voyages.  He writes:

Before him, the Old World and the New remained separate and distinct continents, ecosystems and societies; ever since, their fates have been bound together, for better or worse.

Whatever you think you know and whatever you think you think about Columbus — visionary, delusional, greedy, loyal, brilliant, mad, whether you think of him as an adventurer, a spy, or a despoiler, you will be surprised, challenged, and fascinated by what Bergreen has uncovered.

Happy Columbus Day and cheers to all adventurers and explorers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cmpY8E_Xs0