NATIONAL BESTSELLER - A groundbreaking work of science, history, and
archaeology that radically alters our understanding of the Americas
before the arrival of Columbus in 1492--from "a remarkably engaging
writer" (The New York Times Book Review).
Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian
Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather,
there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced
the land around them. The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had
running water and immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any
contemporary European city. Mexican cultures created corn in a
specialized breeding process that it has been called man's first feat of
genetic engineering. Indeed, Indians were not living lightly on the land
but were landscaping and manipulating their world in ways that we are
only now beginning to understand. Challenging and surprising, this a
transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought
we knew.