[books 2016] 1493

[inulro]

6. 1493: How Europe's Discovery of the Americas Revolutionized Trade, Ecology and life on Earth by Charles C Mann

The follow up to 1491, which I read recently. The thesis here is that every aspect of life on earth was affected by what Mann (borrowing from someone else) refers to as the Columbian Exchange - the movement of peoples, animals, plants and diseases around the world following the European discovery of America. He concentrates on a few examples in detail - tobacco, rubber, the Spanish shipping of silver around the world, slavery. For me the most interesting part was probably the chapter on runaway slave societies. I knew of their existence in, particularly, Jamaica, but not of their extent and, particularly in Brazil, how their existence still affects people today.

This one is even longer than 1491 but it's well worth the effort. There was a lot here that I knew, but loads that I didn't. Such as the fact that before the fens in England were drained, malaria was endemic to England.

I enjoyed 1491 more, but this one is a very important book too.

Comments

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Now on my to-read list.