1491
by Charles C. Mann
★ Top 25 book of 2005 · #23 on Best Books of 2005
Charles C. Mann draws on thirty years of archaeological and anthropological research to challenge old ideas about the Americas before Columbus. He argues the continents held huge populations, great cities like Tenochtitlan, and sophisticated achievements such as corn breeding.
Best for: Curious readers eager to rethink what the Americas were like before 1492
1491 is #23 on BookWard's Best Books of 2005, out of 52 2005 books that cleared our data bar.
What 1491 is about
Many of us learned that the ancestors of Native Americans crossed the Bering Strait twelve thousand years ago, lived in small nomadic bands, and tread so lightly that the Americas were essentially wilderness. Charles C. Mann explains why that picture no longer holds. Over the last thirty years, archaeologists and anthropologists have overturned many of those assumptions, and he shows how a new generation of researchers, using novel scientific techniques, reached startling conclusions.
Among them: in 1491 the Americas probably held more people than Europe. Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, was far more populous than any European city of its day, with running water, botanical gardens, and spotless streets.
1491 on the Best Books of 2005
1491 came out in 2005. Of the 52 books first published in 2005 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #23 on our Best Books of 2005 list.
Why it made the list: 233 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (31 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2005 list
- Midnight Erin Hunter, #21
- A Piece of Cake Cupcake Brown, #22
- Code Talker Joseph Bruchac, #24
See all Best Books of 2005 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2004 Best Books of 2006.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 174 want to read it, 11 are reading it now and 48 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.3 out of 5 from 31 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 44 | 55% |
| Reader love | 87 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 38 | 20% |
Questions about 1491
When was 1491 published?
1491 by Charles C. Mann was first published in 2005.
Was 1491 one of the best books of 2005?
1491 is #23 on BookWard's Best Books of 2005, out of 52 2005 books that cleared our data bar. 233 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (31 ratings).
Why is 1491 on the Best Books of 2005 list?
233 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (31 ratings).
More of the best books of 2005
- The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan, #1
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J. K. Rowling, #2
- The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls, #3
- Looking for Alaska John Green, #4
- Eldest Christopher Paolini, #5
- Freakonomics Steven D. Levitt, #6
See the full Best Books of 2005, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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