Specifically, Mann looks to contextualize accounts by Francis Drake and Hernando de Soto, among others, whose journals and reports were the basis of the "pristine wilderness" myth.
The author's argument is that these explorers and conquistadors were not mistaken in their accounts, but were witnessing a large-scale ecological anomaly, brought indirectly about by recent pandemics.
These pandemics, which counter-intuitively preceded the establishment of European colonies and settlements, disrupted native society and their ability to control their environments,, and led to uniquely "pathological" conditions: giant herds of buffalo and deer, flocks of passenger pigeons.
As spreading disease wiped out entire communities and societies, nature essentially reclaimed the land—a phenomenon the Europeans were able to witness first-hand. The final chapter of , "The Great Law of Peace," discusses the cultural and social impact of native civilization on the European—and, later, Anglo-American—societies that replaced them.
The author's argument is that the notions of liberty and egalitarianism that animated these new nations were inspired by Europeans' contact with the alternate social structures that existed in the New World. While the structure of the Five Nations in the New England region seems to be an early model for consensus-driven, representative government, the theory is difficult to prove elsewhere on the continent.
As the author himself shows, native society was politically-diverse, with examples as imperial and hierarchical as any of their European contemporaries. Mann illustrates in the final chapter of his book that something of the character of these "lost" civilizations continues to persist within our own. The guide themes, chapter outlines and character summaries are more detailed than other sites. The information is chapter specific and so it's easy to target certain things.
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