1491

New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

By: Charles C. Mann

Narrated by: Darrell Dennis

Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

A groundbreaking study that radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans in 1492.

Traditionally, Americans learned in school that the ancestors of the people who inhabited the Western Hemisphere at the time of Columbus' landing had crossed the Bering Strait 12,000 years ago; existed mainly in small nomadic bands; and lived so lightly on the land that the Americas were, for all practical purposes, still a vast wilderness. But as Charles C. Mann now makes clear, archaeologists and anthropologists have spent the last 30 years proving these and many other long-held assumptions wrong.

In a book that startles and persuades, Mann reveals how a new generation of researchers equipped with novel scientific techniques came to previously unheard-of conclusions. Among them:

• In 1491 there were probably more people living in the Americas than in Europe.
• Certain cities - such as Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital - were far greater in population than any contemporary European city. Furthermore, Tenochtitlán, unlike any capital in Europe at that time, had running water, beautiful botanical gardens, and immaculately clean streets.
• The earliest cities in the Western Hemisphere were thriving before the Egyptians built the great pyramids.
• Pre-Columbian Indians in Mexico developed corn by a breeding process so sophisticated that the journal Science recently described it as "man's first, and perhaps the greatest, feat of genetic engineering".
• Amazonian Indians learned how to farm the rain forest without destroying it - a process scientists are studying today in the hope of regaining this lost knowledge.
• Native Americans transformed their land so completely that Europeans arrived in a hemisphere already massively "landscaped" by human beings.

Mann sheds clarifying light on the methods used to arrive at these new visions of the pre-Columbian Americas and how they have affected our understanding of our history and our thinking about the environment. His book is an exciting and learned account of scientific inquiry and revelation.

©2016 Charles C. Mann (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"In the tradition of Jared Diamond and John McPhee, a transforming new vision of pre-Columbian America." (Richard Rhodes)

"Every American knows it was a vast new world that Columbus found in 1492, and most imagine it was a thinly peopled paradise of plants, animals, and hunter-gatherers waiting for civilization. The reality, Charles C. Mann tells us in his startling new book about the world before Columbus, is very different - two continents teeming with languages, cultures, and mighty cities as big, as rich, and even more populous than the capitals of Europe." (Tom Powers)

"Charles C. Mann takes us into a complex, fascinating, and unknown world, that of the Indians who lived in this hemisphere before Columbus. He gently demolishes entrenched myths, with impressive scholarship, and with an elegance of style which that makes his book a pleasure to read as well as a marvelous education." (Howard Zinn)

Learn How Wrong Your Assumptions Were

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in history, as well anyone who thinks they understand what the Americas were like before Columbus arrived. Quite an eye opening history book that really uncovers the differences in what we are taught vs. what we are finding out as more research is uncovered.

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/A

What about Darrell Dennis’s performance did you like?

He made a really entertaining book that challenged many of my assumptions that I had about the history of the Americas.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Learning about how advanced these cultures truly were.

Challenge your preconceived notions

This book really shined a light on a subject I am very naive on. Much better, broad understanding of Native American life styles, communities and kingdoms before the arrival of Europeans.

Good Quality, Just Not What I was Looking For

Very well researched and academic. No fault there.

I thought and was looking for something more alternative.

This seems simply more in-depth mainstream narrative, tons of history with what I consider conjecture.

I am always skeptical when experts tell me exactly what people ate and how they cooked 11,000 years ago.

I thought it would be more insightful to other historical findings and theories that have been swept away, this seems like in -depth main stream narrative.

Worth a listen

This was a very fascinating book. As someone who has read a lot about early American history, I did not have a lot of knowledge around Indian culture before the 1700s.

Although it was very interesting, and I feel a lot more informed, I did feel like it went into a lot of detail that I was not really interested in any such as the Amazon.

I checked out this book more to hear about North America Indians I was surprised at the amount of information related to South America, even though it was helpful and somewhat related. I do wish it talked about North America more than it did.

Love To Learn History Based on Data

This was a well written book that changed my whole view of the history of the America's! Narration was great and I for sure recommend this book.

Awesome

this book had a great impact on my understanding of pre-columbian America.
the writing was very enjoyable to read.

overall, super highly recommend

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!!! So Impressed.

GREAT CONTENT, bounces around dates some but overall this is a MUST LISTEN.
Great depth and reference input to build the story on.

Mr. Mann thank you for taking on such a complex project... WOW.

Great story, hard to follow at times

I really enjoyed the story but narrator was hard to follow at times. It was enlightening to hear that the Americas were actually much more populated and advanced than we are taught in American schools. It gives me much appreciation and respect for all the lives lived out in this great land we call home.

Covers immense ground with clarity

No matter how much you think you know about pre contact America this performance will add greatly to your understanding of the world in the Americas prior to contact. The fascinating parallels with Western society are rich. Quite fun to listen to a narrative of a lost world.

Modern update on american indigenous population

well reviewed and collected information on what the population was like prior to Columbus arrival. thoroughly reviewed data and evidence of cultural existence that has been identified by scientists. excellent read.