1491 New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
In a riveting & fast-paced history, massing archeological, anthropological, scientific &
literary evidence, Mann debunks much of what we thought we knew about pre-
Columbian America. Reviewing the latest, not widely reported research in Indian
demography, origins & ecology, Mann zestfully demonstrates that long before any
European explorers set foot in the New World, Native American cultures were
flourishing with a high degree of sophistication. The new researchers have turned
received wisdom on its head. For example, it has long been believed the Inca fell to
Pizarro because they had no metallurgy to produce steel for weapons. In fact, scholars
say, the Inca had a highly refined metallurgy, but valued plasticity over strength. What
defeated the Inca was not steel but smallpox & resulting internecine warfare. Mann also
shows that the Maya constructed huge cities & governed them with a cohesive set of
political ideals. Most notably, according to Mann, the Haudenosaunee, in what is now the
Northeast U.S., constructed a loose confederation of tribes governed by the principles of
individual liberty & social equality. The author also weighs the evidence that Native
populations were far larger than previously calculated. Mann, a contributor to the
Atlantic Monthly & Science, masterfully assembles a diverse body of scholarship into a
first-rate history of Native America & its inhabitants.
$14.95
|