Rated of 5
by vince storti what was missed
I liked the beginning; what came after was a hodgepodge running in circles from Eastern seaboard to Brazil to Peru and back again, all the while neglecting areas northwest and Southwest of Central Mexico and South of Mexico in North America and neglecting Northern parts of South America. The books seemed to be hit and miss, with no indication of the intellectual background of the journalist; some ethnology, some archeology, some prehistory, some travelogue, some guessimations of psychology. If he had a good editor, he'd have been able to get twice the information in on half the pages. Footnotes were assigned page numbers (no note numbers); what academia teaches these days I know not.
Rated of 5
by Peter Boyle What Archaeology Tells Us
As a retired Archaeologist I found 1491 to be a readable synthesis of what Archaeologists and Geographers have talked about for a long time. Humans have been in the Americas for over 20,000 years (as recent, long suppressed, publications by Tom Dillehay and Mike Adovoso have proven). We knew much of this 20 or more years ago, and I am glad that someone finally wrote a readable book about it.
Rated of 5
by Ilsa 1491 Revisionism
While the research is surprising regarding pre-European Indian demographics and culture (though not well-cited, so not really credible), the data and interpretations of European ethnocentricity is not.
However, the self-conscious, pervasive tone of condescension toward "revisionist" history (near anything pre this author), affected sniffy tone and at times nearly fantastic yet dogged interpretations about Indian motives, including, for instance, those as being undilutedly anti-European, dissembling and conniving from Tisquntum, make this potentially educational book a tiresome, black-and-white read.
1491 would be so much more enjoyable with a less self-placing author; less didactic, authoritarian tone; and the addition of verified facts and a more tentative tone and interpretations. It is perhaps more tyranical toward the reader than its Anglophile predecessors.
Rated of 5
by Marty Chenault 1491
What were the effects of the Black Death on Europe during this period? I believe it wiped out about 2/3 of the population of that part of the world, so is this PC revisionist history at work?
Rated of 5
by David Libenson Disorganized opinions
I agree with the Washington Post review. This book is very disorganized. It is filled with personal opinions that are not properly cited. The reference notes are not in the text and it is very difficult to determine the author's sources. He jumps around fro era to era and geographic location to location. I learned more about the pre-Columbian Americas in the museums in Mexico City and Lima than from this book. Furthermore a high percentage of the material is post 1492.
I am very surpised at the high praise given this book and have to believe most reviewers did not read it; rather took their reviews from publicity releases.
Rated of 5
by Mary Lee Parrington A Fresh Look at the
It turns out "The New World" wasn't so new after all. The idea that North and South America, before Columbus, was home to more inhabitants than Europe at that time is completely at odds with what we learned in school. But in a work that synthesizes recent scholarship, Mann makes a very good case for the concept that ancient civilizations had inhabited the Western Hemisphere for millenia. It explains the existence of ruined cities throughout south and central America. and the huge contributions to agriculture; maize, tomatoes, and potatoes which became staples around the world. DNA analysis explains just how devastating European diseases were to Native Americans from the first moments of contact, even before European settlement. It is a fascinating look at an accidental disaster that did indeed create a "New World."
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today's globalized world.
The story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way but one. But that exception is the beating heart of this extraordinary novel.
The most mature work yet from an incomparable storyteller, TransAtlantic is a profound meditation on identity and history in a wide world that grows somehow smaller and more wondrous with...
First time novelist Vaddey Ratner captured my heart and senses in this novel based on her childhood in Cambodia. Her story transcends any news story...
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From the first page, I was drawn in by the lyrical writing of the author and mesmerized as the narrator, eight year old Raami, remembered the years...
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Trite but true, all good things must come to an end. I so wanted to keep reading the wonderful prose, the settings that let one think they are part...
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Kenn Nesbitt is new Children's Poet Laureate(Jun 12 2013) Kenn Nesbitt has been named the new Children's Poet Laureate: Consultant in Children's Poetry to the Poetry Foundation, which noted that the two-year position...
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of 5
by vince storti 
of 5
by Peter Boyle 
of 5
by Ilsa 
