The author’s conclusion that Chinese seafarers and concubines settled in Malaysia, India, Africa, the Americas, Australasia, and across the Pacific, almost a century before the Europeans started their historic voyages of exploration has come up against a great deal of opposition. However, with the publication of the paperback in October 2003, and the posting of ‘Synopsis of Evidence 17’ on the 1421 website, people will surely begin to take off their historical blinkers and adopt a more open attitude to interpretations of world history. The historical purists have constantly stood their ground in the belief that Magellan’s expedition was the first to circumnavigate the globe, and that the supporting cast of Columbus, da Gama and Cook were the pioneers of their day. Nonetheless there is overwhelming evidence on this website to support the author’s claim that the Chinese reached the great continents years before the Europeans first set foot there.
