Charles C. Mann, a correspondent for The Atlantic, Science and Wired, has written for Fortune, the New York Times, Vanity Fair and the Washington Post, as well as for HBO and 'Law & Order'. A three-time US National Magazine Award finalist and the author of three previous books. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus won the US National Academies Communication Award for the best book of the year, and both that book and its sequel, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, were New York Times bestsellers. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Mann is a compelling and forensic analyst of big tipping points in human affairs. * The Washington Post * A fascinating story of two forgotten men whose ideas changed our understanding of humanity's place in nature . . . Mann offers a sympathetic, nuanced way to understand one of the fundamental debates of our time: How will 10 billion humans live sustainably on Earth, when our demands for energy and food are growing? -- Annalee Newitz * Ars Technica * This unique, encompassing, clarifying, engrossing, inquisitive, and caring work of multifaceted research, synthesis and analysis humanizes the challenges and contradictions of modern environmentalism and and our struggle towards a viable future. * Booklist (starred review) * Masterful . . . Mann's most spectacular accomplishment is to take no sides . . . An insightful, highly significant account that makes no predictions but lays out the critical environmental problems already us. * Kirkus (starred review) * '[Mann's] gift for explaining science shines on every page . . . A stimulating, thoughtful, balanced overview of matters vital to us all. As the world, besieged by ever-more titanic storms and wildfires, threatens to explode into a terrifying new normal, books like this . . . are more necessary than ever. * Boston Globe * Does the earth's finite carrying capacity mean economic growth has to stop? That momentous question is the subject of Charles Mann's brilliant book The Wizard and the Prophet . . . A treasure house of knowledge . . . Indispensable. * Wall Street Journal * Beautifully written . . . fascinating . . . Mann shows us that the arguments about the environment that are raging today have a long and rich history. * Literary Review * Mann's storytelling skills are unmatched - the sprightly tempo with which this book unfolds, each question answered as it comes to mind, makes for pure pleasure reading . . . [Mann] provides detail enough, and simplicity enough, that anyone who is struggling with these puzzles will be enlightened and informed. And entertained, which, given the subject matter, is no small feat. * New York Times *