Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 384 pages
- Published by: William Morrow June 3, 2008
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0061492175
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0061492174
-
Book Dimensions:
9 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
- Weighs: 1.4 pounds
Product Description
The New York Times bestselling author of 1421 offers another stunning reappraisal of history, presenting compelling new evidence that traces the roots of the European Renaissance to Chinese exploration in the fifteenth century
The brilliance of the Renaissance laid the foundation of the modern world. Textbooks tell us that it came about as a result of a rediscovery of the ideas and ideals of classical Greece and Rome. But now bestselling historian Gavin Menzies makes the startling argument that in the year 1434, China—then the world's most technologically advanced civilization—provided the spark that set the European Renaissance ablaze. From that date onward, Europeans embraced Chinese intellectual ideas, discoveries, and inventions, all of which form the basis of western civilization today.
Florence and Venice of the early fifteenth century were hubs of world trade, attracting traders from across the globe. Based on years of research, this marvelous history argues that a Chinese fleet—official ambassadors of the emperor—arrived in Tuscany in 1434, where they were received by Pope Eugenius IV in Florence. The delegation presented the influential pope with a wealth of Chinese learning from a diverse range of fields: art, geography (including world maps that were passed on to Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan), astronomy, mathematics, printing, architecture, steel manufacturing, military weaponry, and more. This vast treasure trove of knowledge spread across Europe, igniting the legendary inventiveness of the Renaissance, including the work of such geniuses as da Vinci, Copernicus, Galileo, and more.
In
1434, Gavin Menzies combines this long-overdue historical reexamination with the excitement of an investigative adventure. He brings the reader aboard the remarkable Chinese fleet as it sails from China to Cairo and Florence, and then back across the world. Erudite and brilliantly reasoned,
1434 will change the way we see ourselves, our history, and our world.
Reader Reviews
Like another reviewer, when I first heard of this books I thought it was an alternate history. But like the author's previous book, 1421, it's a rather fanciful conclusion held together by a string of clever conjecture that falls about upon close examination. For one thing, the author has his Chinese fleet transitioning from the Red Sea to the Medterranean via the Red Sea to Nile canal built by the Pharoehs that, by 1434, had been out of commission for seven centuries. The book is still worth a read as it is chock full of little tid bits about Chinese navigation methods, Arab spice and perfume trade, 15th Itallian culture, and a host of other subjects. But the author does not prove that a fleet on Zeng He's gigantic Chinese junks sailed into the Venitian lagoon one bright morning in 1434 and sparked the Rennisence.
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