1491 by Charles Mann

This year's theme is Native American Literature & Experiences

Mann shows how a new generation of researchers equipped with novel scientific techniques have come to previously unheard-of conclusions about the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans: In 1491 there were probably more people living in the Americas than in Europe. Certain cities--such as Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital--were greater in population than any European city. Tenochtitlán, unlike any capital in Europe at that time, had running water, beautiful botanical gardens, and immaculately clean streets. The earliest cities in the Western Hemisphere were thriving before the Egyptians built the great pyramids. Native Americans transformed their land so completely that Europeans arrived in a hemisphere already massively "landscaped" by human beings. Pre-Columbian Indians in Mexico developed corn by a breeding process that the journal Science recently described as "man's first, and perhaps the greatest, feat of genetic engineering."--From publisher description.

New members and occasional drop ins are always welcome to the longest running book group at the Lincoln Library

Books in various formats will be available at least 2 weeks prior to meetings, and also available through either Hoopla, or Overdrive as E Books and/or Digital Audio Books

For Zoom invite please email lrothenberg@minlib.net or ktranquada@minlib.net