The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492

Alfred W. Crosby

Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003 - Biography & Autobiography - 283 pages

Thirty years ago, Alfred Crosby published a small work that illuminated a simple point, that the most important changes brought on by the voyages of Columbus were not social or political, but biological in nature. The book told the story of how 1492 sparked the movement of organisms, both large and small, in both directions across the Atlantic. This Columbian exchange, between the Old World and the New, changed the history of our planet drastically and forever.

The book The Columbian Exchange changed the field of history drastically and forever as well. It has become one of the foundational works in the burgeoning field of environmental history, and it remains one of the canonical texts for the study of world history. This 30th anniversary edition of The Columbian Exchange includes a new preface from the author, reflecting on the book and its creation, and a new foreword by J. R. McNeill that demonstrates how Crosby established a brand new perspective for understanding ecological and social events. As the foreword indicates, The Columbian Exchange remains a vital book, a small work that contains within the inspiration for future examinations into what happens when two peoples, separated by time and space, finally meet.

What people are saying

Review: The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 (Contributions in American Studies, #2)

User Review  - Dan - Goodreads

Elucidating and fascinating read concerning the movement of flora, fauna, and people between the Old and the New Worlds and the enormous changes it created for the future of the world. Too bad it ends ...

Review: The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492

User Review  - Eddy Allen - Goodreads

Thirty years ago, Alfred Crosby published a small work that illuminated a simple point, that the most important changes brought on by the voyages of Columbus were not social or political, but ...

Contents

• The Contrasts: 3
• Conquistador y Pestilencia: 39
• Old World Plants and Animals in the New World: 68
• The Early History of Syphilis A Reappraisal: 126
• New World Foods and Old World Demography: 169
• The Columbian Exchange Continues: 212
• Bibliography: 226
• Bibliography to the 2003 Edition: 265
• Index: 281

About the author

ALFRED W. CROSBY JR. is Professor Emeritus of American Studies, History, and Geography at the University of Texas, Austin. He is the author of Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900 (1986), America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 (1989), The Measure of Reality: Quantification and Western Society, 1250-1600 (1997), and most recently Throwing Fire: Projectile Technology through History (2002).

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492; Volume 2 of Contributions in American studies
• Author: Alfred W. Crosby
• Edition: 30, illustrated, annotated
• Publisher: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003
• ISBN: 0275980731, 9780275980733
• Length: 283 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Historical; Biography & Autobiography / Reference; History / World