Condition: Good. Packed in a RIGID mailer. Pages: address written on intro page, otherwise, not written on, clean, bright, odor free. Dust jacket: may have bumping and rubbing to edges, price clipped corner to front inner flapped. See Photos! Ships from California. Ships same or next day!  ABOUT: Between 1492 and the middle of the eighteenth century, Spain extracted billions of dollars worth of gold, silver, emeralds, pearls, and other treasure from the Caribbean basin. Led by such champions as Columbus, Ponce de Leon, and Hernandez Cortes, the Spanish established a stranglehold on the exportable wealth of the New World, which was gradually eroded by such diverse foes as Francis Drake, Piet Heyn (the Dutch admiral who captured an entire Spanish treasure fleet) Henry Morgan, and Blackbeard. The Funnel of Gold, a spell-binding chronicle of this prolonged clash, combines the sweep of history with the dynamism of human adventure. Many obstacles hampered the Spanish monopolization of the riches of the New World: virulent disease; primitive navigational instruments; cumbersome ships; devastating hurricanes; treacherous coral reefs, pirates, both male and female; and the naval might of England, France, and the Netherlands. Mendel Peterson connects the fierce rivalry of the major European powers for control of the New World to their jockeying for power on the Continent and the religious upheaval of the time. Ironically, the unbending fervor with which the Spanish throne sought to secure its grip on Caribbean riches contributed to the dissolution of Spain's empire, which by 1825 had shrunk to Cuba and Puerto Rico. As a stirring re-creation of dramatic tableaux and as a historical document of this era, The Funnel of Gold is unsurpassed. The use of actual words of participants in the fantastic events described, unprecedented in works such as this, heightens the color and authenticity of the account. More than 140 illustrations and four useful maps complement the text.