From Library Journal: "In 2003, the Library of Congress paid $10 million for a 1507 map of the world that first used the name "America" for lands in the New World. It was touted as America's birth certificate. Toby Lester traces the fascinating background to the creation of this map, as Europeans tried to assimilate the discoveries of Columbus, Vespucci, and other explorers into their worldview. Since the time of the geographer Ptolemy, the world was conceived as containing Asia, Africa, and Europe. Now a fourth part had to be mapped. It's hard to imagine now how sea charts could be considered top-secret documents, but in the early 16th century, the kings of Spain and Portugal attempted to restrict knowledge of access to the new lands. However, copies of these charts made their way into the hands of humanist scholars such as Martin Waldseemuller and Matthias Ringmann in France, who produced this groundbreaking map. Lester provides an engrossing adventure for both general and informed lay readers."