In this groundbreaking work of science, history, and archaeology,
Charles C. 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.
