A review by amslersf
1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies

2.0

If the story of Columbus teaches you anything it should be skepticism in the face of discovery. Menzies got past me. His unquenchable optimism was unnerving, but his tale of how the Chinese circled the world and built enduring relationships with people from South America to North American long before the Europeans was too alluring. I was too ready to believe that all these eurocentric historians had missed the greatest discoveries in navigation. Once I finished the book, I headed online to do some checking. It doesn't look like 1421 holds much water. Folks agree that the Chinese Treasure Fleet and its travels were an amazing accomplishment, but as for colonies in the Americas and circumnavigation? We'll have to wait.