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1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance

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Author : Gavin Menzies
Binding : Hardcover
EAN : 9780061492174
ISBN : 0061492175
Label : William Morrow
Manufacturer : William Morrow
Number of pages : 384
Publication date : 2008-06-01
Publisher : William Morrow
Release date : 2008-06-03
Title : 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Studio : William Morrow

Editorial reviews

Product Description

The New York Times bestselling author of 1421 offers another stunning reappraisal of history, presenting compelling new evidence that traces the roots of the European Renaissance to Chinese exploration in the fifteenth century

The brilliance of the Renaissance laid the foundation of the modern world. Textbooks tell us that it came about as a result of a rediscovery of the ideas and ideals of classical Greece and Rome. But now bestselling historian Gavin Menzies makes the startling argument that in the year 1434, China—then the world's most technologically advanced civilization—provided the spark that set the European Renaissance ablaze. From that date onward, Europeans embraced Chinese intellectual ideas, discoveries, and inventions, all of which form the basis of western civilization today.

Florence and Venice of the early fifteenth century were hubs of world trade, attracting traders from across the globe. Based on years of research, this marvelous history argues that a Chinese fleet—official ambassadors of the emperor—arrived in Tuscany in 1434, where they were received by Pope Eugenius IV in Florence. The delegation presented the influential pope with a wealth of Chinese learning from a diverse range of fields: art, geography (including world maps that were passed on to Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan), astronomy, mathematics, printing, architecture, steel manufacturing, military weaponry, and more. This vast treasure trove of knowledge spread across Europe, igniting the legendary inventiveness of the Renaissance, including the work of such geniuses as da Vinci, Copernicus, Galileo, and more.

In 1434, Gavin Menzies combines this long-overdue historical reexamination with the excitement of an investigative adventure. He brings the reader aboard the remarkable Chinese fleet as it sails from China to Cairo and Florence, and then back across the world. Erudite and brilliantly reasoned, 1434 will change the way we see ourselves, our history, and our world.

Customer reviews

review by: Mom E date: 2009-01-04 rating:

1434
This book begins with a lot of technical stuff. If you majored in Latin to avoid taking math, don't give up, just turn the pages. About the third chapter it gets really interesting and fun to read. It is filled with extraordinary bits of information that will delight you.

review by: Mosca date: 2009-01-01 rating:

"Worlds in Collision" for the 21st Century
A waste. I bought this in an airport, hoping for an interesting history to pass a long flight. What I got was research of the most shoddy sort, deductions of the "all of the dogs have stopped barking" variety, and exhortations to visit the author's website for up-to-the-minute revelations. Total garbage.

review by: date: 2008-12-31 rating:

This is a BRILLIANT book! A MUST read for educator and student alike
To understand the controversy over Menzies's books 1421 and 1434, you have to understand the politics of writing - and rewriting - history. Careers are built upon, towns are named for, and a segment of the publishing and entertainment industries are programmed to maintain a keystone American myth about "Discovery."

If what Menzies postulates in 1421 and 1434 is true, why, Columbus, Ohio, would have to rename itself Zheng He-ville. Columbus Circle in NYC would change to Zheng He Circle. All the nursery songs would have to be rewritten. All those scholarly texts would be put in the recycling bin. All those illustrations of a handsome Italian dressed in velvet standing on a sandy shore under the admiring gaze of "primitive" people would end up lining kitty boxes.

It's pretty staggering, what would happen if the myth of Columbus bit the dust once and for all.

Menzies was attacked by his critics. Not a pretty sight.

But 1434 is succeeding anyway, largely because of the internet. Menzies very smartly asked for help from the world's scholars and lay researchers.

They answered his call, from around the world.

If you are not deterred by naysayers, you will be treated to a well-researched and well-written, fully foot-noted twosome, 1421 and its sequel, 1434.

If you can admire the accomplishments of civilizations outside of Europe, you will be totally fascinated by the pieces of information Menzies has doggedly pursued. 1434 is a fun-to-read history book that rests on new discoveries as well as scholarly, less accessible works like the survey of Chinese science and math written by Joseph Needham. At times 1434 reads like a detective novel. Menzies traveled to many cities and towns around the Mediterranean and discovered, for example, that Leonardo's brilliant "inventions" were actually based on drawings done by another Italian artist who based his work on Chinese inventions.

Menzies very intelligent, collective approach to history mirrors what you come to realize while reading the book - that the collective work of an entire culture far exceeds the accomplishments of the individual "genius." Students and anyone interested in history will learn an important lesson from reading 1434: that you don't have to have a degree in history to study, think, and contribute to human knowledge. And the lesson that Menzies learned? Those who step outside the cabin and rechart history must be readly to withstand a flogging from the captains of academia.

I'm glad he was up to the task. Read his books. You will enjoy the journey.

review by: Peter date: 2008-12-12 rating:

more stuff and nonsense
It is tedious to critique Menzies work because it consists of little more than a tissue of error and self-delusion. It is like trying to discuss the pre-war intelligence in Iraq. If you are rational and objective, Menzies looks laughable. But if you are disposed to believe him, the most cogent argument won't shake your faith.

There are two very sad things about Menzies' success. One is that so many people have swallowed his fantasies, when a good undergraduate degree should be enough to debunk him. The second is that Menzies' writing has obscured the facts, at least in the popular mind, about China's contributions to world culture. There were thousands of years of contact between Europe and China prior to 1434 and there is a great deal of good research to be done on mutual influences. But this book doesn't help at all.

review by: date: 2008-11-27 rating:

Would have been better classified under "Fiction"
Menzies has really gone off the deep end with this one. His first book pushed the boundaries of feasibility with its specualtion on where the chinese fleets might have got to - outside of the already established voyages and some somewhat probable locations such as northern australia. This one pushes beyond the boundaries of feasibility and into alternative realities. I'm glad I borrowed the book rather than bought it, and I'm glad I read the very detailed reviews here before I even took that step. Thanks to all those reviewers who put a lot of time and effort into critiquing this book. Honestly, he could have been a good science fiction writer.....but history, NOT!

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