Thoughtful new (or at least little-known in non-academic circles) perspectives fill Mann's book, a nice synthesis of pre-Columbian hypotheses that isn't a bad read at all.

Mann's efforts to avoid emotionally-charged terminology (he even devotes an appendix to explaining himself) sometimes backfire: in his efforts to present lesser-talked-about pre-Columbian cultures of the Americas as valuable and complex in an even-handed way, he often ends up flinging pejorative and subjective descriptions of arriving Europeans. The Spanish are "gawking yokels," the Puritans smelly and ignorant. Even as he denigrates the "noble savage" construct he is paradoxically buttressing its inverse. But it does have a gentler feel to it, and perhaps it's just a bit of harmless overemphasis.

What's more concerning is the striking lack of evidence for the core hypothesis he is shilling here: that there were many, many (many many many) more native Americans, in much more complex societies than we had realized. Well, OK. He has some significant archaeological evidence for the latter. But he even admits that "no definitive data exist" regarding population, and recognizes that even slight margins in estimates could have massive impacts on the actual reality of the past.

Mann is a comfortable, conversational writer, sharp at the everyday kind of expository that makes for good popular non-fiction. The book is narrative, enjoyable. ( )

http://amiralace.blogspot.com/2006/09... ( )

Excellent book with insights into native American life before European influence. ( )

Way back in 2005, I set out to study American History all over again -- from the beginning, chronologically that is. I launched the effort with 'big history' 65 million years ago with the outstanding "The Eternal Frontier" by Tim Flannery, then followed with another winner, "Facing East from Indian Country" by Daniel Richter. The next one was still another superlative title, "American Colonies" by Alan Taylor. I was all set to move on to the French & Indian Wars when I stumbled upon "1491" by Charles Mann.

Everything suddenly came to a screeching halt as I literally inhaled this masterpiece of multi-disciplinary scholarship on the pre-Columbian Americas, and I realized I needed a long pause and lot more study before I abandoned the early period of American history and moved on.

Mann successfully integrates and synthesizes all the latest research and findings from historical sources as well a wide range of archaeological, anthropological, linguistic and -- well, you pick a field and Mann has consulted it -- and successfully wraps his narrative around it. Mann virtually rediscovers the lost world of Mesoamerican, Andean and other pre-Columbian societies, bringing a new and crisper focus to the more familiar "high civilizations" of the Aztecs and the Incas, and -- more critically -- rescuing from the dustbin of pre-history less well-known and perhaps less advanced cultures that were nonetheless more than the equal in many ways to their European counterparts who supplanted them. He challenges the customary assumptions that most of the pre-contact population beyond the golden cities was primitive and made little impact upon their respective environments.

With a narrative gift that is never tedious despite the complexity and detail of the material he discusses, Mann delivers nothing less than a tour-de-force of history told from a perspective long overlooked, a fascinating account of a thriving and successful population much larger than once assumed, decimated primarily by devastating plagues from across the sea they could never have anticipated or countered.

Readers will walk away from this book breathless from what they have encountered and absorbed. I award “1491” five stars because it is unique – like such other masterworks as Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs & Steel” and Nicholas Wade’s “Before the Dawn” – in literally provoking entirely new perspectives in otherwise familiar territory. I award “1491” my very highest recommendation for all students of history, especially those who seek to better understand the Americas prior to European contact. ( )

This is a wonderful compilation of current thinking on the history of the Americas, pre-Spanish conquest. Mr. Mann's writing takes you effortlessly into what could have been a very dry subject. I couldn't put this book down. Bravo and thank you Mr. Mann. ( )