Book Reviews of 1421 : The Year China Discovered America

An interesting notin and book. Some of the author's assertations are unsupported, and absolutely no conflicting evidence is given in the book. But the research into the early use of nautical charts and the ability to find very small bits of evidence in old manuscripts and charts is astounding. You will likely come to the conclusion that China did in fact get do some of the things in the book earlier than the Europeans, only to be lost in the tides of history.

This book is terrible. It is not scientific in any way. A scientific study is falsificationist, whereas this book is completely verificationist. Menzies starts out with the idea that he is correct and only presents tidbits that might corroborate his version of events. I have read every book on maritime history and exploration that I can get my hands on, and this was one of the most disappointing ever. For a more accurate and less biased version of the history of the Chinese treasure fleet, read Louise Levathes book When China Ruled the Seas. It is not written in a flowery style, but it is trustworthy and well-researched.

This is one of the most interesting andimportant book I've read. It it reveals a history I wish I had available seventy years ago in high school!! The comparisons of the fleets of China and England in 1421 are staggering to one brought up on traditional 'western civilization' history. Th size of the vessels, crews and worldwide trips have nothing like it in world history based on the episodes of Dutch, English, Moorish, Portuguese, Spanish capabilities on the oceans.

It'll be a while before this is re-listed on PBS as I want to read it again and share with others. For me this spoke of a history I must have intuitively known for I've always felt that the 'Columbus discovery of America' was not what it was claimed to be.

Very textbook-ish in its writing style, but very interesting and informative.

Novel Theories that I have not encountered before. While much of idea makes sense and answers a lot of questions some of it may be considered over the top????
You choose.

Interesting theories but not really backed up by hard science.

I have to say that this book is over the top. There is no profound evidence to support his claims! As someone who has worked in coastal California and is researching the Pacific coast of Mesoamerica, I have never encountered such research. Sure, he claims that there are similarities and there are, but to then claim that China came to the Americas and taught the Indigenous seems preposterous if not a downright colonialist mentality. Don't bother.