Blackmore (Spanish and Portuguese, University of Toronto) discusses the writings of Portuguese chroniclers of the fifteenth century on the nautical expansion into Africa. He begins by defining the terms used at the beginning of the era, at a time when Muslim kingdoms still existed in Spain. "Moor" and "Saracen", used interchangeably, meant the Other that lived among them who came from Africa. Blackmore explores the use of imagery to describe Africans as Portuguese mariners sail farther down the coast and encounter sub-Saharan Africans. He notes how the writers use these descriptions to create a sense of the "strange" and to control it. The last, and longest, section of the book discusses the character of the monster in Camõe's Os Luciadas, Adamastor. While Adamastor is presented as an elemental being, he is linked to the Black Africans in negative traits as contrasted to the European active, positive ones, exemplified by the explorer, Vasco da Gama. This literary analysis helps in the understanding of attitudes that led to colonialism and that are not yet extinct. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)