Before Columbus: The Americas of 1491

by Charles C. Mann

Overview

A companion book for young readers based on 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, the groundbreaking bestseller by Charles C. Mann.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416949008
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	09/08/2009
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	10.32(w) x 10.24(h) x 0.66(d)
Lexile:	NC1080L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Charles C. Mann is the author of 1491, which won the U.S. National Academy of Sciences’ Keck award for the best book of the year. A correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, Science, and Wired, he has covered the intersection of science, technology, and commerce for many newspapers and magazines here and abroad, including the New York Times, Vanity Fair, the Washington Post, and more. In addition to 1491, he was the co-author of four other non-fiction books. He is now working on a companion volume to 1491. His website is www.charlesmann.org.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 6 Up—In this beautifully illustrated and concise adaptation of 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus (Vintage, 2006), Mann paints a superb picture of pre-Columbian America. In the process, he overturns the misconceived image of Natives as simple, widely scattered savages with minimal impact on their surroundings. Well-chosen, vividly colored graphics and photographs of mummies, pyramids, artifacts, and landscapes as well as the author's skillful storytelling will command the attention of even the most reluctant readers. Eye-catching sidebars and oversize chapter headings seem to pop from the pages. Mann constructs the narrative around three crucial questions that continue to confound historians today: Was the New World really new? Why were the Europeans successful? What ecological impact did Natives have on their surroundings? From the pre-Columbian genetic engineering of maize to the existence of pyramids older than the Egyptian variety, Mann's lucid answers to these questions represent current scholarly opinion and point the way toward future exploration and discovery. Students and teachers will benefit greatly from this engaging exploration of America's most overlooked and misunderstood historical periods.—Brian Odom, Pelham Public Library, AL

School Library Journal

Mann adapts his acclaimed portrait of the Americas before European conquest and settlement into an engrossing, highly readable account for young people. The title-subtitle combination is somewhat misleading, as this sweeping chronicle of the Americas covers thousands of years before Columbus and a couple hundred years after. Presenting fascinating discoveries and hypotheses of anthropologists, archaeologists, geologists and historians, the author effectively supports his thesis that "Native Americans created societies that were older, bigger, and more highly developed than we used to think." He shows that catastrophic epidemics were most responsible for enabling small parties of European conquerors and colonists to overwhelm much larger Indian societies and demonstrates how Native Americans employed sophisticated agricultural methods that transformed ecosystems and shaped landscapes that Europeans assumed were "wilderness." Attractively designed, the book is abundantly illustrated throughout with maps, photographs and reproductions of art works. Especially appealing is how the author shows young readers that history is not static, but dynamic, organic and ever-changing. (introduction, glossary, further reading, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10 & up)

Kirkus Reviews