Before Columbus, the Americas were dense, engineered, and intellectually vibrant—not a pristine wilderness—as the prevailing misconception would imply.

Drawing on archaeology, ecology, genetics, and ethnohistory, Charles C. Mann shows how Indigenous societies shaped their worlds: Amazonian terra preta built fertile soils; chinampas and raised fields turned wetlands into farms; controlled burns curated biodiverse mosaics. Maize, potatoes, and manioc were domesticated powerhouses that later fuelled global cuisines. Urban centres from Cahokia to the Maya thrived; the Inca laced mountains with roads and bureaucracy.

Crucially, diseases outran Europeans along trade routes, triggering collapse and the later illusion of untouched nature. Updated research on Amazonia and population size heightens the picture of human‑made landscapes.

Puncturing schoolbook myths, 1491 reframes conservation as partnership with longstanding stewards, and restores Indigenous innovation and agency to the centre of the hemisphere’s story—changing how we think about history, policy, and the future.