Structure

The book 1491 by Charles C. Mann is separated into three main parts. Following the first chapter, A View from Above is Part One: Numbers from Nowhere? The chapters in this part tell of the early North American Indians and their relationship with colonists from Europe. It also discusses the controversy about the Indian population before Columbus. And it covers the story of Francisco Pizarro’s conquest of the Inka and the reasons for the defeat of Indian civilizations that had endured for centuries.

Part Two: Very Old Bones discusses the debate over whether the Americas were possibly inhabited by humans in the Pleistocene Age. It also covers the development of successful crops by the Indians including cotton and maize and advancements in mathematics, writing systems and other innovations.

Part Three: Landscape with Figures covers the Amazon rainforest and how scientists are beginning to believe that the rainforest...