|                                  1434                                      |
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The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy & Ignited the Renaissance |
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 | DATE: 2012-07-07  SIZE: 9,94MB   DISKS: 03_______4,77MB      PAGES:        |
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 | PUBLISHER: HarperCollins                     GENRE: History                |
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 | AUTHOR: Gavin Menzies                                                      |
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 | FORMAT: PDF    PROTECTION: DRM     EDITION:                                |
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 | URL:                                                  |
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 | LANGUAGE: English   ISBN: 978-0-06-168699-3                                |
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 : The New York Times bestselling author of 1421 offers another stunning      :
 : reappraisal of history, presenting compelling new evidence that traces the :
 : roots of the European Renaissance to Chinese exploration in the fifteenth  :
 : century                                                                    :
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 : The brilliance of the Renaissance laid the foundation of the modern world. :
 : Textbooks tell us that it came about as a result of a rediscovery of the   :
 : ideas and ideals of classical Greece and Rome. But now bestselling         :
 : historian Gavin Menzies makes the startling argument that in the year 1434,:
 : China—then the world's most technologically advanced civilization—provided :
 : the spark that set the European Renaissance ablaze. From that date onward, :
 : Europeans embraced Chinese intellectual ideas, discoveries, and inventions,:
 : all of which form the basis of western civilization today.                 :
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 : Florence and Venice of the early fifteenth century were hubs of world      :
 : trade, attracting traders from across the globe. Based on years of         :
 : research, this marvelous history argues that a Chinese fleet—official      :
 : ambassadors of the emperor—arrived in Tuscany in 1434, where they were     :
 : received by Pope Eugenius IV in Florence. The delegation presented the     :
 : influential pope with a wealth of Chinese learning from a diverse range of :
 : fields: art, geography (including world maps that were passed on to        :
 : Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan), astronomy, mathematics,      :
 : printing, architecture, steel manufacturing, military weaponry, and more.  :
 : This vast treasure trove of knowledge spread across Europe, igniting the   :
 : legendary inventiveness of the Renaissance, including the work of such     :
 : geniuses as da Vinci, Copernicus, Galileo, and more.                       :
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 : In 1434, Gavin Menzies combines this long-overdue historical reexamination :
 : with the excitement of an investigative adventure. He brings the reader    :
 : aboard the remarkable Chinese fleet as it sails from China to Cairo and    :
 : Florence, and then back across the world. Erudite and brilliantly reasoned,:
 : 1434 will change the way we see ourselves, our history, and our world.     :