Mann radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492. Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather, there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced the land around them. The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had running water and immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city. Mexican cultures created corn in a specialized breeding process that it has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering. Indeed, Indians were not living lightly on the land but were landscaping and manipulating their world in ways that we are only now beginning to understand. Challenging and surprising, this a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew.
bought this a few years back before going to Peru. It greatly enhanced my experience. I have thought about it a lot since then in several aspects- what if they were not conquerors, but the interaction was more like when Europe met China? How much more the world would now know. How something (the wild Amazon) we think is so natural, is in fact not at all natural and that we are not so smart as we think we are and need to value other cultures. Just a gre..
