1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus in The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

May 30, 2009 Marty rated it liked it

This was not what I was hoping for, but still of interest regarding South America and Peru. I would have liked more North American history, but it was only lightly touched on.

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Jan 01, 2020 Christian Dibblee rated it liked it

Shelves: general-history

I don't feel especially qualified to give this a proper review.

One thing is true: it vastly expanded my knowledge of the pre-Columbian Americas. In that sense, I think the book is a large achievement for compiling evidence to make the layperson both interested and able to comprehend. My high school education definitely suffered from the defects that Mann seeks to remedy, and I knew nothing coming into this reading experience.

The book is just full of extremely interesting information. I think Man I don't feel especially qualified to give this a proper review.

One thing is true: it vastly expanded my knowledge of the pre-Columbian Americas. In that sense, I think the book is a large achievement for compiling evidence to make the layperson both interested and able to comprehend. My high school education definitely suffered from the defects that Mann seeks to remedy, and I knew nothing coming into this reading experience.

The book is just full of extremely interesting information. I think Mann does a great job discussing not just the role of European diseases but also acknowledges factionalism among natives as exacerbating their inability to meet European interlopers. On the disease point, it was interesting to learn about the dispute regarding how many people lived in the Americas before Columbus. The numbers absolutely stunned me with their scale, as did the vitriol that the controversy engendered among its archaeological and anthropological disputants - in fact the extremism of scientific disagreements is a common refrain, which is fascinating. Mann also distinguishes himself when discussing the natives' approach to agriculture, which was fascinating. That they essentially created maize (likely through genetic engineering) and productive Amazonian soil (by slash-and-char tactics) in ways we didn't understand when this was published is really nutty to me. And awesome. So I would say that Mann did a good job proving that the natives exerted a large influence on their environment. Sidenote: I enjoyed the discussion of whether a large civilization could exist in the Amazon, that was cool to learn about.

Some downsides here - I realize the goal was to show the diversity of these various cultures, but Mann jumps between different cultures a lot. In that sense, I had a tough time remembering which culture was which and at which time it existed historically. Again, Mann may not want the reader to be bogged down in those kinds of details, but constantly going back and forth did set me on edge at points. This was especially true when he would flip between culture from one Part of a chapter to another, essentially via a Part heading. While the final product is eminently readable, the reader's frame of mind shifts very, very often.

One final thing affected my enjoyment: I am not an anthropologist or archaeologist, so in the end while I found the book interesting in the extreme I am forced to take Mann's opinions as just those. So it's tough for me to fully evaluate how right or wrong he is based on the evidence. That's more an issue of mine as a unique reader though; I don't view it as sullying the book's achievement at all.

The book really broadened my horizons a lot. For that, I am very thankful. ...more

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Aug 04, 2009 Peggy rated it really liked it

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks s/he knows much about pre-Columbus times in the Americas. I thought I knew quite a bit, but was quickly disabused! Fascinating topic, very well-written. The author has his opinions, but the arguments (and they are many) among anthropologists and archeologists are clearly and creatively presented. When the evidence isn't clear, he says so, but he also presents his own compelling arguments for one conclusion vs. another. Thoroughly researched ...more

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Aug 27, 2023 Rick rated it it was amazing

Shelves: research-historical

I recommend this book for a different perspective on how the natives of South America lived before Columbus. This book is well-researched and well-written. If you want to get an in-depth view of how the people in the southern hemisphere lived prior to the intervention of Europeans and Asians, this book is one you will want to read.

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