To most of the earth's inhabitants of five hundred years ago, Renaissance Europe was not the center of the world. There were vast, sophisticated civilizations in India, West Africa, and Mexico, among other places. In the islands of the Pacific, sailors were traveling thousands of miles in double-hulled canoes, while in China the great exploratory voyages of a century before had come to end—the Chinese having concluded that they already owned everything they could possibly need or want.

With chapters on Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Oceania, and the Americas, and illustrated with maps, drawings, and period artifacts and works of art, The World in 1492 makes an important contribution to multicultural curricula without indulging in facile Columbus-bashing. From the Ottoman Empire to the seafaring Swahili kingdoms of East Africa, from the timeless landscapes of Australia to the magnificent Inca city of Cuzco, The World in 1492 introduces children to the fascinating histories, customs, beliefs—the lives—of many of the people of the time.

Not just a history or social-studies book, The World in 1492 is written by six authors known both for research skills and their abilities as storytellers—for their abilities to bring people of other times to life.

From the dust jacket