Charles Mann's synthesis of recent research demolishing the image of pre-Columbian Americas as sparsely populated wilderness — revealing sophisticated, populous civilizations that shaped the landscape.
The pre-Columbian Americas were home to more people than Europe at the time of contact, with sophisticated civilizations (including the world's then-largest city, Tenochtitlan), active land management (the Amazon was partly cultivated), and complex political structures. The demographic collapse caused by European disease (90%+ mortality in some populations) erased most of this — creating the 'pristine wilderness' that later Europeans encountered. A revolution in popular understanding of American history.
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