Book Review: 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
This book blows the narrative taught in too many Western schools around the voyages of Columbus and their aftermath right out of the water. The author does this with well researched accounts of the civilizations that dominated the Americas for centuries prior to the arrival of Europeans. Mann documents societies that were far from perfect—just human like their European, African, and Asian counterparts. These Pre-Colombian civilizations had monetary and religious sophistication at least on par with the great civilizations contemporary to them in other parts of the world—including civil engineering works that were advanced for the tools they had available.
Mann traces the anthropological developments of humanity from the beginning of the human species, documenting migrations from Africa and the Middle East through to Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The author leaves no (known at the time) stone unturned, and emphasizes that there are many more areas of inquiry to be pursued and discoveries to be made—these are reasonably expected to further level the discrepancy in perception between what the Europeans called savages and the reality that preceded them in the Americas.
In this book Mann provides essential background found in few other places—it provides critical calibration for all of us to correctly understand the world we inhabit today.
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