Peter A. Coclanis: Roots of Global Economy Grow from the 15th Century

Peter A. Coclanis is Albert R. Newsome Distinguished Professor of History and director of the Global Research Institute at UNC Chapel Hill.

Food and foodways are often linked closely with place, culture and memory. What would Indian cuisine be without chili peppers, Italian cuisine without tomatoes and the Swiss without chocolate? That in each one of these cases the food so closely identified with a particular place and culture was native not to that place or culture, but to the Americas is one of the key takeaways from Charles C. Mann's provocative new book, "1493."

Although globalization has been well talked about for decades, scholars have been tireless in pointing out that globalization is neither new nor irreversible. Because these scholars often write for their peers rather than for general audiences, their findings seldom make it off campus, which makes works by smart, accessible journalists such as Mann so valuable. Mann also wrote "1491," a best-selling history of the Americas before Columbus.

In "1493" Mann makes the case that Columbus' profound significance relates to the fact that his landing on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (in what is now the Dominican Republic) marked the true beginnings of globalization....