Some books are quite good – yet simply aren’t satisfying. Such is the case with Charles Mann’s “1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created,” a sweeping history of the Columbian Exchange. Mann’s book, as the title suggests, examines what happened when the Old World collided with the New. And it’s a fascinating story.
(Mann’s earlier book, “1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus,” was superb — and lacks many of the problems I’ll detail with 1493)
Ian Morris fawned all over it (in a style that approaches embarrassment) in the Sunday Book Review for the New York Times. Morris is an excellent author — and I thoroughly enjoyed his latest book — but there are problems with “1493.”
The primary one is that this should have been a volume in a three part set.
It’s a bit difficult to properly detail five centuries of history in 400 pages. Mann attempts to explain the impact of the Columbian exchange on agriculture, commerce and everyday life — and he does a fine job. But there simply isn’t enough of it. And so he’ll write a fascinating explanation of the trade in rubber, yet you’ll finish it scratching your head and wondering: “Why on Earth does this matter?” What might have been different had circumstances changed?
Now, this isn’t an exhortation for a Newt Gingrich style revisionist history. Nor is it to say that Mann has an obligation to “sell” the book to skeptical readers (he doesn’t). But it is to suggest that he attempted to accomplish far too much with far too few pages. And, while that’s usually something to be cheered — as compared to meandering posts like this one — it does a disservice to his broader arguments.
Thomas Mann is no Thomas Friedman (thank goodness). But his book — one built on a wonderful premise and filled with exhaustively researched information — came dangerously close to the kind of pop theme Friedman has mysteriously used to become wealthy and famous. I hope a lot of people read this book — but I hope much more that they don’t assume this is the norm for historical works on a serious level.
Long story short: Mann could have written three times as much on this subject, and I’d have read all of it, because he’s an excellent author.
But 1493 comes too close for comfort to “The World is Flat”. That’s something I doubt Mann intended. (Or did he?)
Displaced Husker 
Friedman-bashing! ❤