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Rowan Gavin Paton Menzies (born 1937) is a retired British submarine commander and amateur historian best known as the author of the controversial book 1421: The Year China Discovered the World, which asserts that ships from the Chinese fleet of admiral Zheng He traveled to the Americas prior to Christopher Columbus' arrival in 1492 and circumnavigated the globe a century before Ferdinand Magellan as part of the era of Chinese exploration. This thesis has been discounted "as nonsense" by professional historians. Menzies published a follow-up book in 2008 titled 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance.

Personal history

Menzies was born in London, England, though in his book he claims to have been born in China, which he has admitted is false. This has since been rectified in recent editions. Menzies joined the Royal Navy in 1953 and served in submarines from 1959 to 1970. When he was the commander of the diesel submarine HMS Rorqual between 1968 and 1970, Menzies claims he sailed the routes sailed by Ferdinand Magellan and Captain James Cook.

In 1969 in the Philippines, HMS Rorqual rammed a U.S. Navy minesweeper, the USS Endurance, which was moored at a pier. This collision punched a hole in USS Endurance but did not damage HMS Rorqual. The total damage was estimated about 6,600 US Dollars. The ensuing enquiry found one of Menzies´ subordinates responsible for a combination of factors that led to the accident, including the absence of the coxswain (who usually takes the helm in port) who had been replaced by a less experienced crew member, and technical issues with the boat's telegraph.

Menzies currently resides in North London with his wife Marcella. He has been considered a vexatious litigant since 2 August 1996 on the order of a High Court of Justice judge, and so is forbidden from initiating civil cases without permission from the court (in England and Wales).

Books

• Menzies, Gavin (2002). 1421: The Year China Discovered the World. London: Bantam Press. ISBN 0593050789.
  • American edition: Menzies, Gavin (2003). 1421: The Year China Discovered America. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 0060537639.
• Menzies, Gavin (2008). 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 0061492175.

Footnotes

1. Reuters UK. "Columbus debunker sets sights on Leonardo da Vinci." Tue Jul 29, 2008.
2. "The 1421 myth exposed". Retrieved 2007-03-22.
3. "Zheng He in the Americas and Other Unlikely Tales of Exploration and Discovery". Retrieved 2007-03-22.
4. "1421: The Year China Discovered the World by Gavin Menzies". Retrieved 2007-03-22.
5. Finlay, Robert (2004). "How Not to (Re)Write World History: Gavin Menzies and the Chinese Discovery of America". Journal of World History. 15 (2). {{cite journal}}: External link in |title= (help)
6. "Interview with Gavin Menzies". Retrieved 2007-03-22.
7. "Interview with Gavin Menzies". Retrieved 2007-03-22.
8. "Enquiry regarding the collision of the USS Endurance and Rorqual". Retrieved 2007-03-22.
9. "Vexatious litigants." Her Majesty's Courts Service.

External links

• Gavin Menzies' website promoting 1434

Critics

• 1421 Exposed - Website set up by an international group of academics and researchers
• Finlay, Robert (2004). "How Not to (Re)Write World History: Gavin Menzies and the Chinese Discovery of America". Journal of World History 15 (2) - Scholarly review of Menzies
• Gavin's Fantasy Land, 1421
• A critical view of Menzies' story
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation's FOUR CORNERS Program Transcript of "Junk History"

Template:Persondata

• 1937 births
• British historians
• Living people
• Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact
• Pseudohistory
• Royal Navy submarine commanders