I don't have any contention with Mann's information (though how would I know), but I do wish this work featured more knowledge and perspective gleaned from modern Native populations, rather than just (mostly white, lbr) historians and archaeologists. I learned a lot from this small book, though I still think I need to read the adult version for a more comprehensive and nuanced look at the facts. Other than some history of local Native tribes, we barely studied the history of the Americas in school when I was growing up, and unfortunately I didn't pursue it in college either. When the Indians suddenly lost massive numbers of people to disease, they could no longer manage their ecosystems on that scale, and things started to change.
The Native Americans managed their ecosystems on a large scale. Someday I'll get around to tackling 1491, but this young reader's version seems to sum up Mann's main ideas well.
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