1493 for Young People

1493 for Young People by Charles C. Mann tells the gripping story of globalization through travel, trade, colonization, and migration from its beginnings in the fifteenth century to the present. How did the lowly potato plant feed the poor across Europe and then cause the deaths of millions? How did the rubber plant enable industrialization? What is the connection between malaria, slavery, and the outcome of the American Revolution? How did the fabled silver mountain of sixteenth-century Bolivia fund economic development in the flood-prone plains of rural China and the wars of the Spanish Empire? Here is the story of how sometimes the greatest leaps also posed the greatest threats to human advancement.

Mann's language is as plainspoken and clear as it is provocative, his research and erudition vast, his conclusions ones that will stimulate the critical thinking of young people. 1493 for Young People provides tools for wrestling with the most pressing issues of today, and will empower young people as they struggle with a changing world.

“A fascinating story of how our modern world came to be. Globalization isn’t the recent phenomenon we thought—follow the breadcrumb trail of something as innocent as a potato and discover how it led to colossal change worldwide. Watch with horror the domino effect caused by greed for silver, and find out how something as tiny as a mosquito changed the world. A captivating mosaic of game changers that shaped modernity.”—Jill Rubalcaba, author of Every Bone Tells a Story, Finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

“An engrossing history of almost everything—ecology, botany, politics, economics, disease, and anthropology—since Columbus’s arrival in and departure from the Americas, 1493 for Young People will inform and engage its audience. Charles C. Mann’s original acclaimed work has been ably and entertainingly reduced for younger readers, who will appreciate his mind- and world-expanding ideas and knowledge.”—Cynthia Levinson, author of We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March, Winner of the IRA Young Adult Nonfiction Award

"This is a book of big ideas and grand movements in human history, told through engaging stories about explorers, mountains of silver, deadly mosquitoes, and much more."—Steve Sheinkin, author of Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, a Newberry Honor Book and Winner of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults