Gavin Menzies - Who Discovered America?: The Untold History of the Peopling of the Americas

GAVINS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Who Discovered America? should be my swan song, the culmination of my three previous books. All of these books have become international bestsellers. I am indebted to those who have bought copies of them and contributed to the everlasting stream of new evidence, which has resulted in this book. I thank all of these people, not only those who have helped in publishing it.

General Thanks

The three previous books are on sale in more than seventy-two editions, in more than one hundred countries and thirty languages. I left school at fifteen without formal qualifications and am not particularly clever, so it is I think legitimate to ask why anyone should read my books. My answer is that all of these books, not least Who Discovered America? , are the result of team efforts, of which I am proud to be a member. This can be illustrated by the way all four of the books have come about.

First, we are not alone in asserting that traditional history as currently taught is one long fairy story. Emeritus Professor John Sorenson and Emeritus Professor Carl Johannessen have devoted their lives to publishing bibliographies with descriptions of more than six thousand intercontinental journeys before Columbus. They have been joined by Emeritus Professor Carroll Riley and Emeritus Professor Betty Meggers. We have publicized their work in four popular history booksI am an unashamed popularizer.

Second, we have a golden stream of new evidence from the friends of our website, www.gavinmenzies.net (at our peak we had more friends than Oxford or Cambridge had undergraduates). This is the basis for all the books. Professional historians are patronizing about readers contributionsin my view the critics condescension is unwarranted now that the Web has arrived and enabled us all to become historians.

From the mass of new evidence we select the most interesting pieces and I write this up into a manuscriptwhich takes, on average, three months. I then show it to my literary agent, Luigi Bonomi, who advises me on what should be emphasized or deleted. My second draft is then given to Luigi, who decides to whom he can sell the proposal. Luigi is a genius at thishe has to date sold all four books to the first publisher he has approached. We then retain Midas, who have so brilliantly publicized all four books (they drew in twenty-two thousand press, radio, and TV mentions for the 1418 map). Midas devise a marketing campaign aimed to sell foreign rights at the London Book Fair each April. Selling foreign rights before the book is published helps the publishers sell it to bookstores in the principal markets.

The publishersBantam Press for 1421 , Orion for The Lost Empire of Atlantis , and HarperCollins for 1434 and Who Discovered America? have all done a marvelous job in publishing, marketing, and selling these works. They are just like submarinersdecent, pragmatic people, delightful to work with, and extremely clever. My books have been strongly disliked by professional historians who have accused my publishers of putting out fraudulent books. These wild accusations have been borne with great good nature and forbearance. I thank these publishers for standing by me.

Particular Thanks for Who Discovered America?

As mentioned, Luigi has worked his magic selling the manuscript to HarperCollins, his first choice.

HarperCollins have been wonderful publishers for the past twelve years. I should particularly like to thank Peter Hubbard (who is the publisher of record for all four of my books in America), Cole Hager (Peters assistant), Liate Stehlik (publisher), Juliette Shapland (foreign rights director), and Camille Collins (publicist).

Peter has shown truly inspiring judgment in selecting and appointing Peter Eisner (a distinguished author in his own right) to restructure the book. Peter Eisner has greatly improved the structure so that it now contains a vast amount of information in a readable form. Peter has also documented the research of a considerable number of experts on whom we have reliedthe notes reflect this.

I would also like to thank Ms. Moy for her fast, accurate, and good-natured word processing of the nine revisions of this book.

Ian Hudson has once again managed our team with great good nature and wise judgment. He is my joint author for Who Discovered America? and will, I hope, continue the revolution in future books he writes.

Finally, my heartfelt thanks to my beloved wife, Marcella, without whom there would have been no research and no book.

GAVIN MENZIES

June 19, 2013

IANS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost I would like to thank Gavin for giving me the amazing opportunity to write this book with him. I have known Gavin from a very early age. He and Marcella have worked with my parents for many years, and their daughters are roughly the same age as my brothers and I. We spent many a happy time together in our childhood days with family trips to the pantomime, Bonfire Night parties, and the like. One outstanding memory was when Gavin and Marcella took us all to lunch in Londons Chinatown, when I must have been all of eight years old. It was the first time that I had been exposed to the wonders of dim sum, and I remember being in awe of Gavin as he seemed to know exactly what he was doing, ordering deftly from the menu. So one might say that my initial interest in Chinese culture was sparked inadvertently by Gavin some twenty-five years ago!

I started working with Gavin in 2002, upon graduation from the University of Bristol. It was my first job as a graduate, and I havent looked back. It has been a diverse, inspiring, and fascinating journeya personal voyage of discovery that more than a decade ago I never would have dreamed of. Over the years, I have gained experience in all manner of fieldsresearch, translation, editing, writing, lecturing, curating exhibitions, television documentary productionthe list is endless, and I am eternally grateful to Gavin for trusting in me, and giving me the freedom to enhance and enrich my skill set. We have covered a great deal of ground over the years, seeing leaps in technology that have made our research work much easier, as well as increasing the speed and widening the breadth of dissemination of our finds around the world. It has been an honor and a pleasure to share this journey with Gavin, and I hope that there will be many more adventures to come.

I would also like to thank Frank Lee, who has worked tirelessly alongside Gavin and me, keeping us pointed in the right direction and enabling us to continue with our research projects. Gavin, Frank, and I formed a company in 2009 with a view to maintaining a sustainable business that could keep our website and research going for years to come. We would have found it incredibly hard to continue without Franks support and advice over the years, and I hope that the steps that we have taken thus far will ensure our ongoing success in the future.

I would like to echo Gavins words in thanking Luigi Bonomi and HarperCollins for all of their hard work over the years. It has been a pleasure working with so many diligent and inspiring peoplelong may it last!

The 1421 team to me is now like a family, spread far and wide around the world. We are in touch with readers from almost every continent on a daily basis and it is a delight to be at the hub of this focal point for research and the sharing of knowledge. Our special thanks go to those whose ongoing research has contributed to this book. These contributors include, in no particular order, Cedric Bell and his son Dave, Dr. Rosanne Hawarden, Charlotte Harris Rees, Paul Chiasson, Dr. Siu-Leung Lee, Liu Gang, Dr. Gunnar Thompson, Jerry Warsing, Mark and Laurie Nickless, Emeritus Professor Carl Johannessen, and Emeritus Professor John Sorenson. They have all become friends to us along the way, and we are most grateful to them for sharing their knowledge and skills with us, inspiring us in our search for the truth. Their work embodies the brave, tireless spirit of the underdogs, rallying against the established paradigm of American discovery. We hope that this spirit shines through in our book and will continue to shine for many years to come.