Who Would Like This Book:
Charles C. Mann's "1493" is a deeply engaging, globe-trotting history that uncovers the tangled web of people, plants, animals, and diseases set in motion by Columbus’s voyage. The book is packed with surprising stories - think potatoes saving China from famine, silver connecting South America to Ming China, and how mosquitoes shaped American history. Mann has a real gift for making big, complex topics accessible and even fun. If you're a fan of history that connects dots across continents and centuries - or you just love mind-blowing facts about the past - this one’s for you!
Who May Not Like This Book:
If you prefer your history concise, this may feel overwhelming. Mann covers a huge amount of ground, with lots of details and tangents - some readers found themselves lost among the many stories and ideas. Those craving a tighter focus or who want more maps and visual aids might get frustrated. And if you’re looking for a balanced account, it’s worth noting he often gives more weight to the negative consequences of the Columbian Exchange.
About:
'1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created' by Charles C. Mann is a sequel to '1491' that delves into the global effects of the Columbian Exchange post Columbus's voyages to the Americas. Mann covers the massive changes in diet, crops, plants, animals, pests, diseases, and ideas around the world brought about by the new global trade interactions. The book is well researched and filled with fascinating information about the intertwining of different cultures and ecosystems due to the exchange of goods and people across continents.
Mann's writing style in '1493' is described as clear, engaging, and well-organized, providing readers with a comprehensive look at the aftermath of European discovery of the Americas. The author weaves together biology, agriculture, anthropology, warfare, ecology, and economics to tell a consistently interesting story about the impact of the Columbian Exchange on shaping the modern world civilization, making readers rethink their understanding of global history and its long-lasting effects.
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From The Publisher:
A deeply engaging new history of how European settlements in the post-Colombian Americas shaped the world, from the bestselling author of 1491.
Presenting the latest research by biologists, anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians, Mann shows how the post-Columbian network of ecological and economic exchange fostered the rise of Europe, devastated imperial China, convulsed Africa, and for two centuries made Mexico City-where Asia, Europe, and the new frontier of the Americas dynamically interacted-the center of the world. In this history, Mann uncovers the germ of today's fiercest political disputes, from immigration to trade policy to culture wars. In 1493, Mann has again given readers an eye-opening scientific interpretation of our past, unequaled in its authority and fascination.
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2 comment(s)
1491 and 1493 are crucial reads for anyone interested in the history of the Americas, both pre and post Columbus.
What a fascinating book! Mann untangles many of the ecological and human consequences of the meeting of worlds and mixing of species and cultures that started with the establishment of an ongoing European presence in the Americas. For example -- Europeans overturned many Native American cultural practices in ways that made perfect breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes that were recently introduced from Africa. Africans were far more resistant to both malaria and yellow fever than were either Europeans or North Americans. This may have been one of the economic forces that caused the American south to be founded primarily on African chattel slavery rather than European indentured servitude. We see the potato go from America to Ireland and create a population boom, followed by the tragedy of the famine when the potato blight follows after. There are so many amazing stories here -- biology, warfare, economics, suffering, resistance. Highly recommended.
What can you read after
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created?
About the Author:
Charles C. Mann, a correspondent for The Atlantic, Science, and Wired, has written for Fortune, The New York Times, Smithsonian, Technology Review, Vanity Fair, and The Washington Post, as well as for the TV network HBO and the series Law & Order. A three-time National Magazine Award finalist, he is the recipient of writing awards from the American Bar Association, the American Institute of Physics, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Lannan Foundation. His 1491 won the National Academies Communication Award for the best book of the year.
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