 |
|
     |
|
|
|
Gavin Menzies, 1421: The Year China Discovered America (New York: William Morrow, 2002), 552 pp.
Pursuing his passion for medieval cartography, Gavin Menzies, a veteran of the British Royal Navy, discovered a 1424 Venetian map that showed four strangely named islands. He concluded that two of them Eidentified by the Portuguyese names Antilia and Satanazes on the chart Edepicted Puerto Rico and Guadeloupe. Further investigation showed that the Portuguese, for whom the chart was made, did not know the islamds when the map was made. As late as 1431, Henry the Navigator was urging his captains to find the islands of Antilia, proving that the Portuguese had not yet discovered them. That raised the real puzzle: "if the Portuguese had not discovered and surveyed Antilia and Satanazes, who on earth had?" Menzies answers, The Chinese. In 1421, Menzies tells the story of his discovery of Chinese expeditions to Africa, Australia, New Zealand, as well as the Americas. If this sounds dusty, think again. 1421 has all the excitement of a detective story, not to mention the further excitement that it may well be true.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 at 06:32 PM
Permission is given to use material on this site, provided the source is cited, blog entries are republished in full, and the author is notified in advance.
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
