1491
1491 by Charles C. Mannby Charles C. Mann
Shares rank 15 of 51 history books by recommenders
People recommend it as an eye-opening, well-researched history of the Americas before Columbus that reads like a page-turner. No critical comments were recorded.
People recommend it as an eye-opening, well-researched history of the Americas before Columbus that reads like a page-turner. No critical comments were recorded.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Eye-opening view of pre-Columbian civilizations
“1491 is a great book about the history of the Americas before Columbus.”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Apocalypse no: how almost everything we thought we knew about the Maya is wrong” “it was very eye opening as to how badass all these civilizations were”
Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “Scientists Reveal How the Maya Predicted Eclipses for Centuries” Well researched and respected by historians
“it is well researched, and well regarded by historians”
Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “Scientists Reveal How the Maya Predicted Eclipses for Centuries” Page-turner packed with ideas
“It has about the information/idea density of a Neal Stephenson novel (a good one), and is about equally a pageturner.”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “Beyond Greece and Rome”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| 1491by Charles C. MannThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It has about the information/idea density of a Neal Stephenson novel (a good one), and is about equally a pageturner.”
“1491 is a great book about the history of the Americas before Columbus.”
“it is well researched, and well regarded by historians”
“it was very eye opening as to how badass all these civilizations were”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.