I don’t usually buy harddbacks unless I want to keep them for reference. For instance, I’ve always got my copy of Genes, Peoples, and Languages handy. I’m eager to read 1491, but there are already 3 holds on it at the local library. Has anyone read it yet? Is it the kind of book you’ll want to go back to often in the future? Just wondering.
I haven’t seen this one, but it looks along the lines of Millennium or the Discoverers/ Creators etc or Guns Germs Etc. As a humanities nerd who has gotten impatient with too much supposed-to-be-good but in-fact-crappy fiction (anyone hailed as a “new Eco” or “new Calvino” ain’t) I end up reading this sort of thing for entertainment.
Not only did I read the library copy, but I bought the hardcover. It’s a fascinating book.
The author published an essay in the Boston Globe that discusses why the Indians let Europeans stay in North America. It’ll give you an idea of the author’s writing style.
An excerpt from the book was published in The Atlantic. It’s behind a for-pay firewall, but a little judicious Googling brought up this 15-page pdf file.