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.