THE DISCOVERY OF THE AMERICAS

The Maestros do a real service here in presenting the more familiar explorers in the context of all the migrations that have populated the Western Hemisphere, beginning with the Ice Age journeys across the land bridge from Siberia to Alaska. Though the information is simply stated, it is lucid, well balanced, and scrupulous in distinguishing conjectures from documented facts and in pointing out the tragic effects of the Europeans' arrival on the Native Americans. The large, profusely illustrated format is handsome; and while Giulio Maestro's depictions of people are merely serviceable, he mixes his media to splendid effect to evoke sweeping landscapes in Newfoundland, the Caribbean, or even a brooding Gobi Desert. Maps; five pages of ``Additional Information'' include a table of dates and a list of early American groups. An outstanding introduction. (Nonfiction. 6-10)