It is a challenge to write a historical overview of America before the European conquest. The American double continent has produced such a variety of cultural phenomena from its settlement until the year 1500 that one must necessarily set strong emphases, in other words demonstrate "courage to fill gaps". Antje Gunsenheimer and Ute Schüren have taken up this challenge and presented an overview work, which was published this year as volume 16 of the Neue Fischer Weltgeschichte. It thus replaces the aging volume 21 of Fischer Weltgeschichte.