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1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

Charles C. Mann

Start date: March 1, 2015

Finish date: March 31, 2015

Discussion: Nonfiction Group Read

Discussion leader: LdyGray

Why we're reading this: We had a ridiculously tight nonfiction poll, but 1491 scratched ahead for the win.
[close] We had a ridiculously tight nonfiction poll, but 1491 scratched ahead for the win.

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Nonfiction Group Read

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What Members Thought

Feb 07, 2025 Irene rated it liked it

The author argues that pre-Columbian America rivaled Europe for population density, technical advancement, cultural sophistication, social complexity and more. He focuses on those who would have lived from Mexico to the Andes to the Amazon. From the invention of the number zero to the genetic modification of maze to sanitation, he makes it clear that the explorers did not find a pristine wilderness inhabited by people who lived lightly on the environment, but powerful advanced societies. When sm ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 01, 2015 Rachel rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, history, sociology, nonfiction

3.5

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 29, 2013 Lauren rated it really liked it

Everything you thought you know about how Indians lived in North and South America pre-Columbus is wrong. The strength of this book is that it forces you to reconsider many of the assumptions you have (including, apparently, that the Amazon rain forest is natural).

That said, I wanted more from the book. It's nearly impossible for me to imagine how archeologists can look at a few mounts and reconstruct what it was like to live there many thousands of years ago. This book concentrates on the conc ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 23, 2016 Nadine in California rated it it was amazing

Readable and scrupulously researched, at least as far as I can tell as a general reader who knows next to nothing about the subject but wants to learn. Full confession - although I've given it five stars, I only got half way through it. No fault of the book, I just realized that I wasn't doing it justice reading it so slowly between other books. It deserves a better reader. ...more

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Feb 20, 2011 Genia Lukin rated it liked it

Shelves: biography-history

The book loses two stars for severe revisionism issues, but it's definitely not without its merit, and quite well-written, so it's not entirely a lost cause. ...more

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