Gavin Menzies

From open-encyclopedia.com - the free encyclopedia.

Gavin Menzies, a former Royal Navy submarine commander, is the author of the controversial book 1421: The Year the Chinese Discovered the World. His 1421 theory asserts that ships from the fleet of Chinese admiral Zheng He travelled to the Americas prior to Christopher Columbus' arrival in 1492, a claim considered by many established intellectuals to be baseless in fact. However, his supporters argue critics are out of touch with historical investigations and 'underestimate' Chinese naval technological capabilities.

Further reading

• Gavin Menzies, 1421: The Year the Chinese Discovered the World, Morrow/Avon, 2003, hardcover 576 pages, ISBN 0060537639

External links

• Review of 1421 by a science editor at the New York Times
• Official Website of the book
• A critical view of Menzies' story

Please note the above link contains mainly unreachable pages!