Get 3 audiobooks free with a 30-day Free Trial
Sign Up Free
Loading...
Welcome
Sign up
Login
Browse Books
Deals
VIP
Gifts
0
Loading...
Play Sample
Amerigo: A Comedy of Errors in History
Author:
Stefan Zweig
Read by:
AI Voice
Read
Read
Own
Own
Unabridged Audiobook
Listen Free Now
Listen free with a 30-day free trial
Choose 2 bonus VIP books
Enjoy 10,000 always free books
Add to Cart - $9.99
Remove from Cart
Give as a gift
Ratings
Book
Narrator
Release Date
June 9, 2026
Duration
2 hours 57 minutes
Summary
This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice. How did two entire continents come to bear the name of Amerigo Vespucci, a relatively minor Florentine navigator, rather than Christopher Columbus, who reached the New World first?
Stefan Zweig published Amerigo in 1942, his final year, solving this historical mystery through detective work in archives and original documents. The answer involves accident, confusion, and profound historical irony: A German cartographer named Martin Waldseemüller, working in a remote village in 1507, read an account attributed to Vespucci claiming he'd reached the mainland before Columbus. Based on this single document—likely forged or heavily embellished—Waldseemüller labeled the new continents 'America' on his world map. The name stuck. By the time the error was recognized, thousands of copies had spread across Europe. Waldseemüller tried to correct it in later maps, but too late—the mistake had become permanent.
Columbus dies believing he'd reached Asia, bitter and neglected, never knowing he'd discovered a new world. Vespucci, a competent but not extraordinary navigator, becomes immortalized through error. The greatest geographical discovery in human history gets named for the wrong person through a series of accidents and misunderstandings.
Zweig combines historical research with literary flair, synthesizing original documents—Vespucci's letters, Columbus's journals, Waldseemüller's publications—into dramatic narrative. Vespucci emerges as neither villain deliberately stealing glory nor innocent victim, but ambiti
Browse By Category
Biography & Memoir
>
History & Culture
Amerigo: A Comedy of Errors in History
Author:
Stefan Zweig
Read by:
AI Voice
Add to Cart - $9.99
Remove from Cart
Listen Free Now
Get any book plus
2 bonus VIP books
1 book added to cart
Amerigo: A Comedy of Errors in Hi...
Stefan Zweig
Subtotal
$9.99
View Cart
Continue Browsing
~~title~~
Back
Next
~~carousel-body~~
~~book-title~~
~~author-single-string~~
~~tag-text~~
© Copyright 2011 - 2026 Storytel Audiobooks USA LLC. All Rights Reserved.