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

by
Alfred W. Crosby (Author)
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Alfred W. Crosby (Author), Otto von Mering (Foreword)
4.4 out of 5 stars 18 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0837172286
ISBN-10: 0837172284
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Product Details

  • Series: Contributions in American Studies
  • Paperback: 268 pages
  • Publisher: Greenwood (December 13, 1973)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0837172284
  • ISBN-13: 978-0837172286
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #489,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsLook for the paperback edition!
By Thomas M. Martin on August 2, 2000
Format: Hardcover
Alfred Crosby's *The Columbian Exchange* is a classic. To give you an idea of the importance of this book, the concept of the Columbian Exchange is now part of the historical lexicon of college and high school history textbooks. It even made a stealthy appearance of sorts in the title of Jared Diamond's recent Pulitzer Prize winning book, *Guns, Germs, and Steel*. Indeed, no history of the "Spanish Conquest" is complete without reference to the exchange of flora and fauna - especially the role of European pathogens. It was hardly surprising that Crosby's book was required reading at the National Teacher Training Institute for AP World History in 2000.
Even readers who are familiar with the concept of the Columbian Exchange can benefit from reading the original work. Crosby traces the migration across Beringia, using blood types to illustrate the homogeneity of the population. Most importantly, this population remains isolated from the communicable disease pools that periodically decimate Afro-Eurasians following the development of agriculture and cities. When European conquistadors and missionaries arrived in the 15th century, epidemics of Eurasian diseases spread like wildfire through 'virgin' populations - often traveling faster than the Europeans themselves. This demographic collapse creates the world's greatest labor (energy) shortage, which set the stage for the slave trade.
The fate of Eurasian animals transplanted to the Americas was similar. Large domesticated mammals were virtually unknown in the Americas; Eurasian horses, pigs, and sheep found a world devoid of predators and competitors. They too were 'conquistadors' that transformed New World environments and cultures.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsChanged My View of History
By A Customer on April 4, 2000
Format: Paperback
As I read this book as a freshman in college, my understanding of the world's history changed. I had considered history to be an interplay of religion, culture, ideology, economics, and aggression. Dr. Crosby taught me that I also had to consider the movement of diseases, plants, and animals from one region to another. I was especially struck by the notion that the European conquest of the Americas just could not have happened as easily as it did without the deadly effect of Eurasian diseases on the Indians. Some other work might have brought this recognition, but I read _The_Columbian_Exchange_ first. I should add that the book is well-written and entertaining yet sober.
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4.0 out of 5 starsThe biological side of History.
By Larry B on September 7, 2014
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
A very informative read. Most of us think of the pilgrims and thanksgiving when we think of food exchange by Europe and the New World. Most of that is fiction and mis-information. Crosby does a creditable job of cataloging migration of plants and animals between the New and Old World. He is a little light on the details. For instance the migration of the potato t\from South America to Spain, to Ireland, to North America warrants a chapter by itself. This is a good book, It would be better if it were expanded.
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5.0 out of 5 starsParadigm-shifting historiography
By T. Pangle on March 20, 2007
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
The Columbian Exchange, by Dr. Alfred W. Crosby, as the title suggests, Crosby's work explains that the most influential aspect of the "discovery" of the "New World" in changing the paradigm of the "Old World" was not the economic ramifications or even the establishment of the United States, but instead the truly unforeseen biological and cultural effects. The Columbian Exchange is divided into four descriptive parts: a description of the paradigmatic shift as a result of Columbus' original crossing, a description of how disease factored into the colonization of the Americas, a description of how the flora and fauna of the "New World" was radically changed by the biological exchange and finally a description of how the Columbian biological exchange continues into the present. After the presentation of stockpiles of research and data, Crosby ends with the conclusion, of course, that the party that sustained the least amount of biological damage became the party less changed. The "New World," the Americas, was more drastically damaged and therefore changed than the "Old World," as Crosby infamously states, "there are two Europes and two Africas: one on either side of the Atlantic."

Alfred W. Crosby received his PhD in History from Boston University, after completing his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Harvard University. Dr. Crosby has taught at institutions such as the Ohio State University and Washington State University; however, Dr. Crosby has spent the majority of his teaching career (1977 to present) as Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin. He has also been granted visiting professorship at Yale University (1977), University of Hawaii (1991-2) and Umeå University, Sweden (1999). Dr.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsa technical book but I really liked it
By Nicholas Peter Evans on January 29, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This book appeals to me because it is packed with information.

Goes into what happened to the native populations of the americas (outcome not so good) after europeans arrived, Also goes into food stuffs and how they were transported from the new world to the old world improving productivity and allowing for much greater growth and 'progress' in Europe and China.

Is more of a technical and reference book, however it is very very well written,

For those wanting an understanding of the real world, how things came to be, this is a fantastic book to read. Exceptionally informative, If you want to learn more about how the world as we know it came into being,,, then I thoroughly recommend this book. I could definately read it every few years to refresh my memory, and you dont do that with most books, A real standard in its genre in my opinion
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsAn unfair barter.

A well researched accounting of alterations brought about by biogeographical intromissions and the medical resistances and susceptibilities of the "discoverers" and the... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Maximo Cerame-Vivas
5.0 out of 5 starsdefinitely a good read and not too dry and academic so you ...

This was an assigned book for a food culture and history class for my grad school. I didn't think it was going to be nearly as interesting as it was. Read more

Published 6 months ago by C. Vogan
5.0 out of 5 starsThis book was the origin for a whole field of study.

Although this book is 30 years old, it is still worth reading. It started a whole new field of
study, and now the phrase "Columbian Exchange" is a commonly used term.

Published on January 28, 2013 by smartchick
4.0 out of 5 starsMust Read for World History Students

I am currently in an AP World History class and for an extra credit assignment over our quarter break we could read this book and write an essay on it. Read more

Published on January 6, 2013 by Amanda
3.0 out of 5 starsrequired reading

My daughter needed this book for class reading. The book was in pretty good shape but had a lot of writing and highlighting throughout.

Published on February 6, 2010 by Susan Shopper
5.0 out of 5 starsgroundbreaking work of the first order

Its been almost 40 years since the first publication of Alfred Crosby's _The Columbian Exchange_, but the work is monumental in its historical and ecological impact. Read more

Published on December 30, 2009 by doc peterson
4.0 out of 5 starsInformative

A good account of the impact of European colonists on the New World biota. However, a more thorough and systematic account is given by the same author in his later book, Ecological... Read more

Published on October 17, 2009 by Debal Deb
4.0 out of 5 starsa more balanced approach to history

Alfred W. Crosby, in his 1972 book The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492, represents a relatively recent trend among historians who are beginning to... Read more

Published on August 21, 2002 by Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 starsGood for info, Bad for fun...

The Columbian Exchange, written by Alfred Crosby, is an in depth look at the biological and cultural consequences of Columbus's discovery of the New World. Read more

Published on May 21, 2002
4.0 out of 5 starsA Good, Unique Biological Perspective on History

This would be an excellent book for the hardcore historian or the equally enthusiastic biologist, because it builds a neat and entertaining bridge between the two. Read more

Published on August 14, 2001 by C. Sellers

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