The One with 1421

11. Title & Author: 1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies (491 pages)
Genre: Nonfiction--History
Completed: 29 July 2007

Summary & Review:
Gavin Menzies makes the case based on maps and physcial evidence across the globe that Columbus did not "discover" the Americas, nor did Magellan "discover" the straight named after him, nor did Captain Cook "discover" Australia and New Zealand. He proposes that all those men had the help of knowledge and charts from the exploration of Chinese Treasure Fleets under the emperor Zhu Di from 1421-3.

The concept of this book is really fascinating, as were the first 50 pages or so. But, the book eventually became extremely repetitive as Menzies kept saying that Cook, Columbus, and Magellan, etc. were not the first. I also couldn't get on board with all of his evidence or reasoning. He made it sound as though anything out the ordinary from across the globe was brought by the Chinese during these three years. This included several carved stones, wrecks, and even plants. Hmmmm. Anyway, overall the facts were interesting, but the manner in which he presented them was extremely boring due to the repetitious nature.

A thank you is due to my wife's grandparents, the Warner's, for not only recommending this book but loaning me their copy to read.

Rating: 7.0 (Rated a little higher for the cool concept)