Gavin Menzies aims to rewrite history by making the extraordinary claim that not only did the Chinese discover the New World, they actually sailed around the world almost a century before Magellan did. Academic historians criticize Menzies for his claims, but I found many of his arguments plausible, and I truly enjoyed reading his work.
I actually envy Menzies because he is exactly the sort of historian I would like to be. Like him, I would like to pursue my passion in history by writing something revolutionary yet I do not see myself becoming a full time professor, at least not yet. I would like to research and write for the sheer pleasure of it rather than simply satisfy academic requirements or write theses only a few old historians would care to read. Why, if my wife can pay for my travel and research like his wife does, then I can probably write that Filipinos discovered Spain instead of the other way around!
Conventional history accepts that the Chinese did explore the Indian Ocean and reached all the way to East Africa. It is also acknowledged that Admiral Zeng He's fleet was the largest the world had ever seen. Whether they actually rounded the Cape of Good Hope or not does not diminish the greatness of Ming China.
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