The book was adapted for younger readers by Rebecca Stefoff and published by Seven Stories Press in 2015 as 1493 for Young People: From Columbus's Voyage to Globalization. In the United Kingdom, the book is published by Granta Books and is titled 1493: How the Ecological Collision of Europe and the Americas Gave Rise to the Modern World.

Modern global food production largely relies on “ invasive species” (crops, livestock) that existed only regionally before establishment of the new trade and transport paths. In his book, Mann argues that Columbus paved the way to the homogenocene, a particular feature of the anthropocene that is marked by a global homogenization of (agricultural) species, diseases, and tools brought about by the migration and transport that set in with the discovery of the new world. It follows on from Mann's previous book on the Americas prior to Columbus, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. It covers the global effects of the Columbian Exchange, following Columbus first landing in the Americas, that led to our current globalized world civilization. Challenging and surprising, this a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew.1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbusġ493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created is a nonfiction book by Charles C. 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.

Mexican cultures created corn in a specialized breeding process that it has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering.

The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had running water and immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city.

A groundbreaking work of science, history, and archaeology that radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492-from “a remarkably engaging writer” ( The New York Times Book Review).Ĭontrary 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.

1492 charles mann