In this nimble work, Germán Arciniegas, one of South America's great minds, sets history on its ear. Too often have we heard that Columbus's discovery of America heralded the importation of Europe to the New World. What Arciniegas considers here is the argument in reverse. Indeed, the New World has so profoundly affected the Old, Arciniegas says, that 1492 marks the date Europe began its Americanization. With a grand, almost cinematic sweep, Arciniegas takes the reader from continent to continent and from influence to outcome. Copernicus, for example, was twenty when Columbus discovered America. The discovery had an enormous effect on his concept of astronomy and that, in turn, had the most profound effects on European intellectual identity. He shows how Cartesian philosophy and baroque art have identifiable roots in American soil. How Vivaldi's music was inspired by Moctezuma. How Garibalid's Risorpimento can be traced to Montevideo. How Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Tom Paine decisively influenced the French Revolution. It was from America's experience with slavery and colonialism that Europe learned the meaning of the word "independence." And, lofty concepts aside, it was from America that Europe received goods that would change the tastes of its palate and the face of its trade: tobacco, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, chocolate...and gold. Combining deftness with scholarly mastery, Arciniegas here gives us his most daring work--one that will stimulate animated discussion among European and American intellectuals for many years to come.--From jacket flap.