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

" So there were some interesting bits. I enjoyed the first few pages, the last chapter, and some bits in the middle about DaVinchi. The rest was monotinous and slow and boring as all hell. The author kept telling the reader to visit his website for more information. It read more like a series of articles that should be in a magazine rather than a book. This tried to be many things, and got lost along the way. Just not my style of history book. "

" This history was very interesting and revealing. The scholarship was quite astonishing, but the book seemed a bit pedantic. It was great historical scholarship but a little intense for pleasure reading. Gavin Menzies' research should be incorporated into every world history and American history textbook. "

" better than the first one! math, art, inventions, astronomy... "

" Fascinating to read about the body of evidence which turns traditional understanding of world history during the Renaissance on its ear. The book is much more archaeological than a traditional history--that is, much more attention is given to the means by which the evidence of Menzies' contentions is gathered than in creating a historical narrative. But Menzies does a good job of making this as interesting as possible. And the circumstantial evidence that Menzies presents to support his claims--that China already had extensively explored the globe and had developed extensive trading networks on virtually every inhabited land; that there was already a great deal of interaction between China and the Mediterranean world, including a sizable Chinese population in the region; and that the "discoveries" and "inventions" of the Renaissance were largely the synthesis of Chinese knowledge given to Venice and Rome in 1434--is very extensive and compelling. I'm interested to go back and read the prior book 1421. "

" Great story, but too dry for me. "

" Must read for anyone interested in real history. It is insightful. The author gives lots of proof of his own investigation which you can corroborate in museums around the world. "

" So far? Totally weak. If you're interested, I'd rec 'The Island of Seven Cities' over Menzies' books, any day. "

" Like 1421 this is a very enlightening book, the Chinese not only discovered America, the circumnavigated the world... "

" i'm astonished at how little coverage this & its companion book 1421 have gotten. Mr. Menzies presents a cogent, tight argument to support his thesis. I believe what he has said. The Chinese are truly amazing! I'd recommend them both. "

" Very good, but not nearly as interesting as the first book. "

" Very weak in literary and in historical terms. "

" This book was interesting but after reading 1421 I was overloaded with details. I had a hard time staying awake reading it. These two book make some things seem around the world make much more sense. "

" I could not finish this book. Menzies writes like an over enthusiastic amateur and his style grated on my nerves. It is rare that I don't finish a book. I was hoping for more... I guess that I should not have expected much from an author who claims that Atlantis existed. "

" Props to the Chinese for discovering everything. "

" Very weak in literary and in historical terms. "

" Very good, but not nearly as interesting as the first book. "

" might be controversial, but fascinating nonetheless. "

" "It is time for an agonizing reappraisal of the Eurocentric view of history." Zheng-He kickstarted the Renaissance. "