1421: The Year China Discovered America |
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1421: The Year China Discovered America
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by Gavin Menzies
Sales Rank: 9656
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List Price: $15.95
$10.85
At Amazon
on 9-16-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 656 pages
Published by: Harper Perennial January 6, 2004
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 006054094X
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0060540944
Book Dimensions:
8.8 x 6 x 1.4 inches
Weighs: 1.6 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
A former submarine commander in Britain's Royal Navy, Menzies must enjoy doing battle. The amateur historian's lightly footnoted, heavily speculative re-creation of little-known voyages made by Chinese ships in the early 1400s goes far beyond what most experts in and outside of China are willing to assert and will surely set tongues wagging. According to Menzies's brazen but dull account of the Middle Kingdom's exploits at sea, Magellan, Dias, da Gama, Cabral and Cook only "discovered" lands the Chinese had already visited, and they sailed with maps drawn from Chinese charts. Menzies alleges that the Chinese not only discovered America, but also established colonies here long before Columbus set out to sea. Because China burned the records of its historic expeditions led by Zheng He, the famed eunuch admiral and the focus of this account, Menzies is forced to defend his argument by compiling a tedious package of circumstantial evidence that ranges from reasonable to ridiculous. While the book does contain some compelling claims-for example, that the Chinese were able to calculate longitude long before Western explorers-drawn from Menzies's experiences at sea, his overall credibility is undermined by dubious research methods. In just one instance, when confounded by the derivation of cryptic words on a Venetian map, Menzies first consults an expert at crossword puzzles rather than an etymologist. Such an approach to scholarship, along with a promise of more proof to come in the paperback edition, casts a shadow of doubt over Menzies's discoveries. 32 pages of color illus., 27 maps and diagrams. Book-of-the-Month Club alternate.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Booklist
Menzies makes the fascinating argument that the Chinese discovered the Americas a full seventy years before Columbus. Not only did the Chinese discover America first, but they also, according to the author, established a number of subsequently lost colonies in the Caribbean. Furthermore, he asserts that the Chinese circumnavigated the globe, desalinated water, and perfected the art of cartography. In fact, he believes that most of the renowned European explorers actually sailed with maps charted by the Chinese. Though most historical records were destroyed during centuries of turmoil in the Far East, he manages to cobble together some feasible evidence supporting his controversial conclusions. Sure to cause a stir among historians, this questionable tale of adventure on the high seas will be hotly debated in academic circles. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Reader Reviews
If you believe that little green men from outer space built Stonehenge or the Nazca lines in Peru, this is the book you want to read. Don't get me wrong. I like books that shake and rattle the academic establishment -- but you gotta be at least moderately credible and get most of your facts right. Menzies fails on both counts, although he's pretty good at covering up his astounding claims with a patina of scientific language. Menzies thesis is that the Chinese sailed around the world in 1421 and on side jaunts discovered Antarctica, the North Pole, circumnavigated Greenland (!!), and left colonies all over the Americas including building stone towers near Boston. Moreover, the Chinese sailed around the world in only a couple of years. Oddly, the Chinese seem to have missed Europe where their visit would surely have been remembered and recorded. As in all good cons, there's a grain of truth in Menzies. The Chinese undertook some serious sea expeditions in the 1400s, exploring the East African coast as far south as Mozambique and probably touching on the northern coast of Australia. It's conceivable that at some point in their long history the Chinese -- purposely or by accident -- may have reached the northwest Coast of North America -- as it is equally plausible that American Indians may have reached out toward Asia. Read "Kon Tiki." Despite a kernel of fact, most of Menzies' book is a mountain of nonsense. To take just one claim, Menzies has the Chinese circumnavigating ice-bound Greenland, explaining that this was possible because of a warmer climate in those days. Au contraire, Gavin. As every geographer knows, the period from about 1400 to 1700 is known as the "Little Ice Age" and temperatures were significantly colder than they are today. Greenland was not circumnavigatable by sea in 1421; rather the Norse colonies in Greenland were dying out because of the miserable weather. The first non-motorized circumnavigation of Greenland took place in 2001, and it was accomplished by dogsled and kayak, not a 15th century Chinese junk. Many, many other examples of silliness are found in the book. Suffice it to say that this book should be marketed in the fantasy section of your local book store. Smallchief
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1421: The Year China Discovered America
Available from Amazon
Price: $10.85
Updated on 9-16-2008.
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