★★★★★ 3
There were periods I was on the edge of my seat. There were times I just wanted to the book to end.
Format: Paperback
I recently started reading at 40 years old to make up for a lot of wasted time and missed education. This is a very informative read, but that said, I had a hard time staying focused sometimes. He gets into a lot of the science pertaining to plagues, epidemics etc which is interesting and I am reluctant to list science as a con as I did learn, but frequently found myself scrolling through several pages just to get the main idea behind the historical part. There were periods that I was on the edge of my seat and there were times I just wanted to the book to end. 1491 was similar. Both useful books, but a bit challenging to follow along especially if you are only reading small amounts at at time like on break at work etc. It jumps around from S. America, N America and China all through the book. I would have preferred that each region be separated. I get that he had his reasons. I am glad I read both books, but I probably should have gone with more of an overview vs the more in-depth content in this. I do not regret reading both books however, and recommend if you already have a good knowledge of this subject and are just trying to learn a little more. I found the information about the slave trade, the most interesting and wasn't aware that the majority of slaves shipped over from Africa went to Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. I also did not realize that plague and sickness really enabled use of African slaves as they were not prone to malaria like the Europeans. There is also some good info about ancient China and also sliver and mercury mining with South American Indians which made the book worth it for me.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2023
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