Description: An outbreak of a disease known as the "black vomit" prevents the English from strengthening their hold in the New World in the eighteenth century; the untimely death of an emperor prevents Chinese and Portuguese explorers from meeting along the coast of West Africa in the fifteenth century; the most significant factor in the Spanish exploration of North America turns out not to be Spain's mighty armies or her unrivaled fleet, but the lowly mosquito. In human history, little things can make a big difference, as Samuel Wilson demonstrates in The Emperor's Giraffe and Other Stories of Cultures in Contact. These twenty-three stories examine moments in history when two cultures first came into contact. Focusing on individuals caught by chance in pivotal times and places, Wilson explores the ways in which seemingly small decisions made during the initial "contact period" between two cultures have had a huge impact. From the 1950 England -- West Indies cricket match to EuroDisney's reintroduction of traditional folk tales to Europe, the effects of these contact periods are still very much with us. Little-known events and remarkable characters fill these interesting, informative, and sometimes surprising tales.

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