The Columbian exchange (1972)

Crosby permanently altered historical thinking by arguing that 1492 was fundamentally a biological and dietary transformation rather than a purely political conquest. He traces how American staples like maize, potatoes and cassava enabled population booms across Europe and Asia, while Old World wheat and domesticated livestock remade the Americas. It remains the essential starting point for understanding how global food crops crossed continents to stave off recurring famines.