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.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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