The international bestselling author of 1421 offers compelling new evidence that the roots of the European Renaissance to Chinese exploration in the fifteenth century. The brilliance of the European Renaissance laid the foundation of the modern world. Textbooks tell us that it came about as a result of a re-discovery of the idea and ideals of classical Greece and Rome. But now, 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 Renaissance ablaza. Fiftheenth-century Florence and Venice were hubs of the world trade, attracting merchants from across the globe. In 1434, a Chinese fleet - official ambassadors of the Emperor - arrived in Tuscany and met with Pope Eugenius IV in Florance. Based on nearly twenty years of research, Menzies compelling history argues that the delegation presented the influential pope with a diverse wealth of Chinese learning: art, geography (includng world maps which were later passed on to Columbus and Magellan), astronomy, mathematics, printing, architecture, civil engineering, military weapons, and more. This vast treasure of knowledge spread across Europe, igniting the legendary inventiveness of the Renaissance, including Da Vinci's mechanical creations, the Copernican revolution and Galileo's discoveries. In 1434, Gravin Menzies combines historical reinterpretation with the excitement o an investigative adventure He brings us aboard the remarkable Chinese fleet as it sails from China to Cairo and Florence, and then back across the world. Erudite and brillianty reasoned. 1434 will change the way we see ourselves, our history and our world.
