1493

Uncovering the New World Columbus Created

By: Charles C. Mann

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

From the author of 1491—the best-selling study of the pre-Columbian Americas—a deeply engaging new history of the most momentous biological event since the death of the dinosaurs.

More than 200 million years ago, geological forces split apart the continents. Isolated from each other, the two halves of the world developed radically different suites of plants and animals. When Christopher Columbus set foot in the Americas, he ended that separation at a stroke. Driven by the economic goal of establishing trade with China, he accidentally set off an ecological convulsion as European vessels carried thousands of species to new homes across the oceans.

The Columbian Exchange, as researchers call it, is the reason there are tomatoes in Italy, oranges in Florida, chocolates in Switzerland, and chili peppers in Thailand. More important, creatures the colonists knew nothing about hitched along for the ride. Earthworms, mosquitoes, and cockroaches; honeybees, dandelions, and African grasses; bacteria, fungi, and viruses; rats of every description—all of them rushed like eager tourists into lands that had never seen their like before, changing lives and landscapes across the planet.

Eight decades after Columbus, a Spaniard named Legazpi succeeded where Columbus had failed. He sailed west to establish continual trade with China, then the richest, most powerful country in the world. In Manila, a city Legazpi founded, silver from the Americas, mined by African and Indian slaves, was sold to Asians in return for silk for Europeans. It was the first time that goods and people from every corner of the globe were connected in a single worldwide exchange. Much as Columbus created a new world biologically, Legazpi and the Spanish empire he served created a new world economically.

As Charles C. Mann shows, the Columbian Exchange underlies much of subsequent human history. Presenting the latest research by ecologists, anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians, Mann shows how the creation of this worldwide 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 such encounters, he uncovers the germ of today’s fiercest political disputes, from immigration to trade policy to culture wars.

In 1493, Charles Mann gives us an eye-opening scientific interpretation of our past, unequaled in its authority and fascination.

©2011 Charles C. Mann (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Charles Mann expertly shows how the complex, interconnected ecological and economic consequences of the European discovery of the Americas shaped many unexpected aspects of the modern world. This is an example of the best kind of history book: one that changes the way you look at the world, even as it informs and entertains.” (Tom Standage, author of A History of the World in Six Glasses)

“In 1491 Charles Mann brilliantly described the Americas on the eve of Columbus’s voyage. Now in 1493 he tells how the world was changed forever by the movement of foods, metals, plants, people and diseases between the ‘New World’ and both Europe and China. His book is readable and well-written, based on his usual broad research, travels and interviews. A fascinating and important topic, admirably told.” (John Hemming, author of Tree of Rivers)

“In the wake of his groundbreaking book 1491 Charles Mann has once again produced a brilliant and riveting work that will forever change the way we see the world. Mann shows how the ecological collision of Europe and the Americas transformed virtually every aspect of human history. Beautifully written, and packed with startling research, 1493 is a monumental achievement." (David Grann, author of The Lost City of Z)

Thoughtful and Transformative

Would you consider the audio edition of 1493 to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version. It's good to have the print version around to refer back to the text when I'm recalling part of the book, but print is hard to read in the car. :)

What did you like best about this story?

The author did a great job tying together the history with his overlying concept regarding the flow of history once humanity globalized humans, cultures, plants, and animals.

Which scene was your favorite?

No particular favorite scene. I enjoyed "cover to cover".

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The book made me think. It caused me to change how I think about human history and how cultures clash, merge, change, thrive or die. It helped me understand how we became who we are.

Any additional comments?

Great book. I enjoyed it completely and will listen to it again. It might seem hard to get excited about history, but I did get excited listening to various parts of this book.

A Lot More Than I Anticipated

Would you listen to 1493 again? Why?

I would certainly listen to this again, but first I would order the preceding book, 1492, to get a better idea of the world that Columbus sailed into. I'd heard a podcast of an interview with Charles Mann on NPR and was attracted to the idea of learning about the transference of plants and diseases by Columbus and other early explorers. I didn't realize that the book would encompass in addition the effects of moving people from Africa, South American silver to China and the movement of people into North America. This books explores a much wider set of topics than I expected and I was fascinated to learn about so much that followed from the Columbian Exchange. I listened while on my morning walks and they became longer and longer as I listened with growing interest.

What does Robertson Dean bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narration by Dean added greatly to my enjoyment of this book because he sounded so interested himself. His inflections and pronunciation made everything he said very clear to me, even though I listened at 1.5x regular speed.

Any additional comments?

Hard to go wrong with this one if you are interested in the world around you anyhow it got that way.

Excellent book

What did you love best about 1493?

Great book, it is about history, but it was told very well, and putting the events in context from different perspectives. Not only did I learn more about the history and the effects from that time period, it was very interesting and tough to put down. I have been recommending to everyone.

Good Pace

The scope of this tome is significant. Yet, the writing and organization makes it an easy to understand - entertaining - read/listen.

The Year the World Changed

Would you listen to 1493 again? Why?

Yes, because it's jam packed with information.

What other book might you compare 1493 to and why?

The author's previous '1491' is also excellent, but there is very little overlap in information.

Which scene was your favorite?

The episodes involving 'Maroons' - escaped African and Indian slaves - against the Europeans was a history I'd never heard before.

Interesting Tale, Arguably Too Materialistic

Charles Mann weaves a compelling narrative based on scientific historical evidence about the development of globalization following Christopher Columbus' rediscovery of the Americas. He focuses on the new diversity and unity of plant, animal, virus, and human life - using these facts to argue for a highly materialistic view of history. The narrative is compelling but cuts out many human elements often overlooked in such histories that attempt to be post-Western.

Yes, the contributions of Africans and the many tribes of pre-columbian and post-columbian "Indians" should not be overlooked - and this volume is excellent at bringing forth these oft overlooked events. It also rightly emphasizes China's economic woes at the time, which definitely had an impact on globalization. Nevertheless, Mann's neglect of "Western" ideas and institutions fundamentally weakens his account of globalization.

The book is narrated well, and a great study for those interested in the rise of globalization- it fills in gaps often left by more idea and institution focused accounts but should by no means be considered definitive.

hours and hours of unbiased history.

Entertaining with out the sensationalism. perfect narration that can be listened to for hours with getting bored or lulled to sleep.

Great perspective on human impact globally from a historical viewpoint.

Well researched, non-political, fresh perspectives, uses the latest data. Recounts the more destructive parts of the story in a non sensationalized way.

The top history book of the decade

Where does 1493 rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

This is the best book I've read all year. I've recomended it to friends and family and re-listened several times. We live in exciting times, and the fields of history and anthropology are constantly being challenged and changed as new discoveries are made. IMHO, Guns Germs and Steel set the gold standard for world history books. However, for the reasons I just mentioned, its important to keep up with emerging discoveries and new knowledge. I loved Mann's last book, 1491, for this reason. This book dramatically exceeds the previous work, no mean feat. For anyone interested in history, this is a MUST READ. Couldn't recomend more.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The chapters about colonial U.S. history were real eye-openers.

Any additional comments?

Not one to miss!

Magnificent Stowaways

Christopher Columbus, and especially the explorers and traders who followed, carried a lot more than settlers in the holds of their creaking wooden ships. Their unseen and unintended cargos would transform both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, in a global, accidental rearrangement of flora, fauna and culture that came to be known as The Columbian Exchange.

The consequences ranged from trivial to transformational. Sometimes, the world was altered in ways that could never be undone.

When British ships arrived to take on massive barrels of prized Virginia tobacco, they dumped their ballast – soil from England, containing nightcrawlers that had been entirely killed off in North America by the Ice Age. The result was more than a boon for future bass fishing. It changed the character of the native forest, with important implications for the future of agriculture and an agrarian society, not to mention the prospects for the Native Americans who had prospered on the land the way it was for thousands of years.

Malaria, the scourge of the tropical Americas, probably came from England, and may have become a significant driver of the slave trade. When shiploads of guano from South America provided the powerful natural fertilizer that coaxed abundant crops from exhausted European fields, they likely also carried the potato blight that killed a million people in Ireland and drove out a million more in The Great Famine of the mid-1800s.

“1493” is a scholarly work but never pedantic. Charles Mann is careful to separate scientific and historical fact from informed speculation. Robertson Dean delivers a clear, precise reading. A lesser narrator might complicate the wealth of information here.

Immerse yourself in the arc of history that transports you to the Jamestown settlement, Bolivian silver mines, and ancient Chinese dynasties. Or just turn to its 18 hours whenever you have a few minutes, and learn something amazing.