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1421: The Year China Discovered America (P.S.)

By: Gavin Menzies
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
ISBN: 0061564893
ISBN-13: 9780061564895
Released: 02 Jun 2008
RRP: £10.39
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable - By: booky, 29 Dec 2007
This is a very well written book. The author obviously has a great enthusiasm for his subject, & this comes across in the book & makes it a very enjoyable read. However, I think it should be noted that there is little if any physical evidence to back some of his claims. Also, the way that he has interpreted some of the evidence is a bit one-sided.

Overalll this is a good read but maybe not quite as scholarly as it at first appears.
wonderful fancy - By: mr P A Leveroni, 04 Feb 2006
a wonderful read - but as yet no proof of anything beyond east africa. archeologicallly verifiable proof found IN-SITU is whats needed. but as i said earlier - a wonderful read
Interesting speculations - By: Kurt Messick, 29 Dec 2005
I am of two minds about this book by Gavin Menzies. I find it absolutely fascinating to read some of the speculations & interpretations that he puts on different maps & findings. I find it credible to believe that Chinese fleets of the early 1400s would be trading in the Indian Ocean & Pacific Ocean, making regular journeys to places as far as Africa, & perhaps reaching the Pacific Coasts of North & South America a few times.

However, I don't know what to think of such issues as Puerto Rico not only having been discovered by Chinese Fleets, but that based on this information, the Portuguese would have colonised areas in the Caribbean a generation prior to Columbus' journey - there seems no credible reason why Prince Henry the Navigator, being given such acclaim in history as he has been, would not also be credited with discovery of the New World if in fact he & his companions had found a passage across the Atlantic & discovered islands there.

Menzies is a good writer. I enjoyed reading the text very much. His description of the history of imperial China in the generation of the 1421 fleet is very engaging. The description of the politics & culture of China of the early Ming dynasty is good. The building of the Forbidden City, the repair of the Great Walll, & the dredging & expansion of the Great Canal are alll projects from this period. It is also well known in historical circles that the period from 1400 to the 1430s was a time of exploration, with Zheng He, a Muslim eunuch in the court of the emperor, in charge of seven different fleets that reached Africa, Japan, & many islands of the South Pacific. These were documented & maintained as part of the ongoing record of Chinese history - why they would be selective to edit out the parts about the Americas, Greenland, & Antarctica becomes a bit speculative.

Likewise, his description of medieval Europe in the generations before & of the great voyages of discovery is also very interesting. He describes some of the political forces driving both exploration & colonisation - again, however, things falll a bit short. Why would the Portuguese, already settled in the Caribbean, agree to a division of the world by the Pope that would cut them out of that territory (particularly when the fact that they had a presence in Brazil was part of why they were permitted in the division to maintain their colonies there)?

Menzie's evidence comes from maps, from archaeological finds, & from literary & documentary pieces. However, one of the pitfallls here is that most every piece of evidence presented is subject to multiple interpretations. Menzie's claims as a navigator & expert in chart-reading do bear up under scrutiny, but this does mean that his interpretations are necessarily correct. There are those who brand his interpretations & conclusions as outlandish - I would opt more for the word 'hopeful' here, in that he does believe that what he has discovered is true on the whole, & this hopefulness leads in a particular hermeneutical direction.

Accoring to one commentator, 'Menzies' hypothesis & his theory accomplishes what many Zheng He scholars & academicians failed to do: that is to create a wide awareness on the subject matter; & forced a critical rethink, including some reevaluations on the extent, the success & the failures of the Ming Imperial Treasure Fleet.' The real benefit of a book such as this one is that it causes conversation & research into history among those who might not otherwise be so inclined. The worrisome part is that it might not be conducted in such as way as to be able to separate fact from fiction.

Menzies does maintain a website dedicated to further researches & refinements in his theory. Thus far, few major academics & historians have signed on as believers of this theory, but there are some - Sir John Elliott, in the Department of Modern History at Oxford is perhaps the most notable.

So, one is left at this - history is not an exact science much of the time, but it isn't a complete fiction or completely subjective dependent upon the whims of those who believe what they will believe, either. It is true that China was more advanced that Europe in many ways at this time, & that the Chinese did command larger fleets than the Europeans at this point in time. However, Menzies' conclusions here are based on interpretation that rests on the shifting sands of myth, legend, & documents with variable ideas of accuracy. Menzies is passionate in his writing, but so far has failed to be convincing. I will strive to maintain an open mind; I will continue to accept the more 'canonical' reading of history that has a stronger pedigree, but will follow the developments of Menzies' theory in the coming decades with interest.

I would give this three-and-one-half stars given the option.

Sheds new light on China's role in world politics - By: , 06 Aug 2005
This is an excellent, well-researched & well-written book providing startling insights on China's role in charting the coastline of Australia, NZ, the Americas, Antarctica & other countries well before explorers such as Columbus & Vasco de Gama ever reached them. By applying navigational skills honed with the British Navy - particularly an understanding of prevailing oceanic winds & currents - the author systematicallly retraces the routes taken by China's treasure ships & shows that China circumnavigated the world long before European countries such as Britain, Portugal & Spain laid claim to it. This book has turned the academic world upside down in its simplicity & common sense approach to putting two & two together. By citing evidence from archaeology, geography, geology, history & anthropology, Menzies demonstrates that China was the first nation to truely explore & colonise the world. It reallly does give you a new perspective on China, just as it is awakening from its 500-year slumber.