His book clears the smoke from our eyes about stereotypes of indigenous peoples, their cities and their cultures. Through reading this book, we find that the natives were so advanced that most of their inventions and discoveries are still valid today. The book also shows us that textbooks are not always the best resource, even though we have relied on them since public education systems became the norm. Mann's account of his studies opened up a world of more civilized, intelligent, and useful representations of indigenous peoples and thriving cities of the North and South