What we think of when we think of the pre-Columbian Americas -- a wilderness lightly occupied by primitive tribes -- was in fact only the tiny remnants of a sophisticated and highly evolved society which had been ravaged by European disease, largely before Europeans could ever make contact with them.

That is the provocative thesis of this thoughtful and thorough look at what existed in this hemisphere before 1491, and what happened to it in 1492. While it sounds like a tired politically correct, multi-culturalal revisionism, it isn't -- it's a fascinating and honest search for a clear-eyed history of the continent. It is also a sweeping, well-research chronicle of the macro elements that mold history --- in the spirit of Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel." Not only will it change the way you look at America's history, but it will change your view of how history unfolds.

Aside from the history of the various empires which existed in pre-Columbian America -- Mayans, Azteks, Incans, and many you've never heard of -- Mann also looks at the biology, technology, and anthropology behind the history. Among some interesting points he hits on are the development of corn (the first feat of genetic engineering, he claims), why Indians were so vulnerable to European germs (it's more complicated than you think), and how Indian culture influenced the development of the colonies and, he alleges, American ideas of freedom and democracy.

Mann isn't an academic, and he largely is just collecting information that other scientists have uncovered. The purpose of the book is not to uncover new facts, but to gather them in a way they haven't before to show how the newest available research so vividly contradicts our ingrained ideas about how the Americas were settled.

That said, Mann is sometimes a bit too zealous in pushing his case, occassionally making leaps in logic that aren't backed up with the evidence. He also could have spent more time dealing with some of the reactions non-academics would have reading the book. I had some fairly unsophisticated questions myself -- "Hey, if the Indians were so well-developed, why weren't there any huge cities in the north?" "If they were so technological, why didn't they 'discover' Europe?"

But the bottom line is, this book is a must for anyone interested in the world's history. Highly recommended.