1491

541 pp “When does American history begin? The old answer used to be 1492, with the European arrival in the Americas. That answer is no longer politically or historically correct. For the last thirty years or so historians, geographers and archaeologists have built up an arsenal of evidence about the residents of North America after the ice receded and before the Europeans arrived. Mann has mastered that scholarship and written the most elegant synthesis of the way we were before the European invasion. Joseph J. Ellis, author of His Excellency: George Washington Native American Seed recommends this Seven Story Sequence: Knowing what happened in the past is essential to make meaningful, lasting changes to the future. Read this series in order. Learn what has occurred over the course of human history that got us to where we are right now. Learn to better understand where we may be going from here. 1) 1491 2) Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America 3) One Vast Winters Count 4) The Worst Hard Time 5) Sand County Almanac 6) Ishmael 7) A Short History of Progress