1434 - Gavin Menzies at it again

[raacluse]

In his latest book, 1434, Gavin Menzies suggests that China sparked the Renaissance.

http://www.gavinmenzies.net

[SunWuKong]

In his latest book, 1434, Gavin Menzies suggests that China sparked the Renaissance.

http://www.gavinmenzies.net

that's a pretty unorthodox claim. but i guess no more or less than his earlier claim in 1421. i think the most that we can get out of the junk ship that they raised off the coast of China is that there was a maritime version of the silk road. probably so much research has been done on the Renaissance that it's difficult to imagine past researchers would have missed something as unique as it having been sparked by China.

one thing i'm glad about is that this is a white guy writing these books. if it was a Chinese author, i think it would raise all kinds of comments about Han Chinese chauvinism.

[yoMAMA]

one thing i'm glad about is that this is a white guy writing these books. if it was a Chinese author, i think it would raise all kinds of comments about Han Chinese chauvinism.

pretty much every thesis of China "superpower" or what not came from white man.

[VV o n g B a]

he's a nut. his wiki article says he lied in his book about being born in china when he was born in london. he's also got a very litigious history. he's the jack thompson equivalent for chinese history.

[SunWuKong]

pretty much every thesis of China "superpower" or what not came from white man.

that's slightly different though, because that's usually motivated by this worry that China's rise means global market trends will be dictated by an authoratative government - a legitimate concern, despite the fact that there's an undertone of China-bashing and China-fearing attitude.

the historical nature in Menzies' books sort of removes them from the context of a fear of China's rise, though i'm sure plenty of readership interest comes from China's rise.

[yoMAMA]

that's slightly different though, because that's usually motivated by this worry that China's rise means global market trends will be dictated by an authoratative government - a legitimate concern, despite the fact that there's an undertone of China-bashing and China-fearing attitude.

the historical nature in Menzies' books sort of removes them from the context of a fear of China's rise, though i'm sure plenty of readership interest comes from China's rise.

to make a name for yourself in the cutthroat world of publishing, bold thesis pays.