Surely there was not sufficient archival research or academia for a book to continue with this much detail. (I checked my checkout receipts.) The Wall Street Journal observed “… 1493 runs to more than 400 pages, but it moves at a gallop…” As I listened to Mann’s 1493 I continued to expect that the book would end at the next chapter. I then proceeded to re-listen almost continuously for a year. When I began listening to the book, I decided that the narrator was reading too quickly for me to truly appreciate every word. In 1493, Charles Mann gives us an eye-opening scientific interpretation of our past, unequaled in its authority and fascination.” Presenting the latest generation of research by scientists, Mann shows how the creation of this worldwide network of exchange fostered the rise of Europe, devastated imperial China, convulsed Africa, and for two centuries made Manila and Mexico City––where Asia, Europe, and the new frontier of the Americas dynamically interacted––the center of the world. As Charles Mann shows, this global ecological tumult––the “Columbian Exchange”––underlies much of subsequent human history.

Columbus’s voyages brought them back together––and marked the beginning of an extraordinary exchange of flora and fauna between Eurasia and the Americas.

Isolated from each other, the two halves of the world developed totally different suites of plants and animals. More than 200 million years ago, geological forces split apart the continents. I was not disappointed.ġ493 is described by the publisher as “the best-selling study of the pre-Columbian Americas––a deeply engaging new history that explores the most momentous biological event since the death of the dinosaurs. Research is a passion of mine, and when I heard that there was a 400-plus page book complete with maps, bibliographic references, and index, I knew I had to read it. Even fewer read it almost exclusively, joyfully checking footnotes and references. We would often swap non-fiction recommendations because few others at the library read the genre.

A patron recommended the book to me at my last library job. Mann‘s (Twitter linked because no website is available) 1493: Uncovering the World New World Columbus Createdas an audiobook commuting read.

Charles mann 1493 book review