1421: The Year China Discovered The World - Softcover

9780553815221: 1421: The Year China Discovered The World
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
Book by Menzies, Gavin

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Gavin Menzies is the bestselling author of 1421: The Year China Discovered America; 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance; and The Lost Empire of Atlantis: History's Greatest Mystery Revealed. He served in the Royal Navy between 1953 and 1970. His knowledge of seafaring and navigation sparked his interest in the epic voyages of Chinese admiral Zheng He. Menzies lives in London.

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.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherBantam
  • Publication date2003
  • ISBN 10 0553815229
  • ISBN 13 9780553815221
  • BindingPaperback
  • Number of pages649
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780061564895: 1421: The Year China Discovered America

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780061564895
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2008
Softcover

9780060537630: 1421: The Year China Discovered America

Willia..., 2003
Hardcover

9780593050781: 1421: The Year China Discovered the World

Transw..., 2002
Hardcover

9780060540944: 1421: The Year China Discovered America

Perennial, 2004
Softcover

9780593051580: 1421: the Year China Discovered the World

Bantam..., 2002
Hardcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Seller Image

Menzies, Gavin
Published by Bantam (2003)
ISBN 10: 0553815229 ISBN 13: 9780553815221
New Softcover Quantity: 5
Seller:
GreatBookPrices
(Columbia, MD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 1673785-n

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 16.75
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Gavin Menzies
ISBN 10: 0553815229 ISBN 13: 9780553815221
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
Grand Eagle Retail
(Wilmington, DE, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. The explosive and bestselling true story of the extraordinary sea voyage that rewrote history.On 8 March 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen set sail from China. The ships, some nearly five hundred feet long, were under the command of Emperor Zhu Di's loyal eunuch admirals. Their mission was 'to proceed all the way to the end of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas' and unite the world in Confucian harmony.Their journey would last for over two years and take them around the globe but by the time they returned home, China was beginning its long, self-imposed isolation from the world it had so recently embraced. And so the great ships were left to rot and the records of their journey were destroyed. And with them, the knowledge that the Chinese had circumnavigated the globe a century before Magellan, reached America seventy years before Columbus, and Australia three hundred and fifty years before Cook.The result of fifteen years research, 1421 is Gavin Menzies' enthralling account of the voyage of the Chinese fleet, the remarkable discoveries he made and the persuasive evidence to support them- ancient maps, precise navigational knowledge, astronomy and the surviving accounts of Chinese explorers and the later European navigators as well as the traces the fleet left behind - from sunken junks to the votive offerings left by the Chinese sailors wherever they landed, giving thanks to Shao Lin, goddess of the sea.Already hailed as a classic, this is the story of an extraordinary journey of discovery that not only radically alters our understanding of world exploration but also rewrites history itself. In 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen set sail from China under the command of Emperor Zhu Di's loyal eunuch admirals. But by the time they returned home, Zhu Di had lost control and China was turning inwards, leaving the records of their discoveries to be forgotten for centuries. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780553815221

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 21.80
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Menzies Gavin
Published by Random House (2003)
ISBN 10: 0553815229 ISBN 13: 9780553815221
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Majestic Books
(Hounslow, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: New. pp. 656. Seller Inventory # 5803163

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 14.21
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 8.27
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gavin Menzies
ISBN 10: 0553815229 ISBN 13: 9780553815221
New paperback Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Blackwell's
(Oxford, OX, United Kingdom)

Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780553815221

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 17.03
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 5.73
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Menzies, Gavin
Published by Bantam (2003)
ISBN 10: 0553815229 ISBN 13: 9780553815221
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0553815229

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 21.43
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Menzies, Gavin
Published by Harper-perennial (2003)
ISBN 10: 0553815229 ISBN 13: 9780553815221
New Soft Cover Quantity: 1
Seller:
booksXpress
(Bayonne, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780553815221

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 26.57
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gavin Menzies
Published by Transworld Publishers Ltd (2003)
ISBN 10: 0553815229 ISBN 13: 9780553815221
New Paperback / softback Quantity: > 20
Seller:
THE SAINT BOOKSTORE
(Southport, United Kingdom)

Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. In 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen set sail from China under the command of Emperor Zhu Di's loyal eunuch admirals. But by the time they returned home, Zhu Di had lost control and China was turning inwards, leaving the records of their discoveries to be forgotten for centuries. Seller Inventory # B9780553815221

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 15.70
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 11.39
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gavin Menzies
Published by Bantam (2003)
ISBN 10: 0553815229 ISBN 13: 9780553815221
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:

Book Description Condition: New. 2003. Bantam New Edition. Paperback. In 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen set sail from China under the command of Emperor Zhu Di's loyal eunuch admirals. But by the time they returned home, Zhu Di had lost control and China was turning inwards, leaving the records of their discoveries to be forgotten for centuries. Num Pages: 656 pages, illustrations, maps. BIC Classification: 1FPC; 3H; HBJF; HBLC; HBTM; RGR. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 128 x 199 x 43. Weight in Grams: 566. . . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780553815221

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 17.96
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 11.42
From Ireland to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gavin Menzies
Published by Bantam Dell Pub Group (2003)
ISBN 10: 0553815229 ISBN 13: 9780553815221
New Paperback Quantity: 2
Seller:
Revaluation Books
(Exeter, United Kingdom)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 656 pages. 7.80x5.00x1.65 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0553815229

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 16.67
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 12.73
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Menzies, Gavin
Published by Bantam (2003)
ISBN 10: 0553815229 ISBN 13: 9780553815221
New Softcover Quantity: 7
Seller:
Ria Christie Collections
(Uxbridge, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: New. In. Seller Inventory # ria9780553815221_new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 17.59
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 12.70
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book