As part of the Asian leg of his on going world tour, former Royal Navy submarine commander and amateur historian Gavin Menzies paid a brief visit to Taiwan last week to promote the first Chinese-language publication of his controversial best-selling book, 1421- The Year China Discovered the World (1421:中國發現世界).
A spokesperson for the local publisher believes that the Taiwanese, although not known for their prolific reading habits, will be attracted to the book not only because of its topic but also because of its controversial nature. And the hullabaloo surrounding the book will ensure Menzies's groundbreaking work becomes not only a best seller in Taiwan, but will also stoke as much interest and heated debate as it has in other countries.
Although his visit to Taiwan was the briefest of his Asian tour, which took him to Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, Menzies did make the time to hold a small seminar and meet with his publisher.
"It's wonderful to see a Chinese-language version of the book and I'm delighted with the publisher who has done a wonderful job," Menzies told Taipei Times. "I haven't had any feed back yet, but I'm sure that will come."
It is in China, however, where Menzies feels his book will prove most popular.
Set for publication there early next year the book has already created a lot of interest in both academic and non-academic circles. Unlike Taiwan, where the job of translating Menzies's words was that of the publishing house, Chinese academics have taken the task on themselves.
While such a high-powered translation would worry many authors, according to Menzies the topic and its content means it will not be changed or abridged in anyway by the authorities. While avoiding all talk of politics and any reference to recent controversy surrounding the translation of a work by the wife of an ex-US president, he happily admitted that: "I'm sure they won't take anything out of this one."
China's immense book buying market aside, the tome has already enjoyed huge sales in other Chinese-speaking nations and territories. The English language edition, which was released in paperback in early October in Asia, was WH Smiths Hong Kong number one best seller and has reached number four in Singapore. Globally the book -- the literary rights of which have been sold to 17 countries -- has recorded sales of upwards of 800,000 copies in 32 countries and been translated into over a dozen languages. Publishers expect it to hit the one million-mark sometime next early next year.
Born in London in 1937, Menzies, whose father was also a Royal Navy submariner, moved to China shortly after his birth, where he lived for two years before the outbreak of World War II. Joining the Royal Navy in 1953, Menzies served in submarines from 1959 to 1970 during which time he sailed the world in the wake of explorers such as Columbus, Dias, Vasco da Gama, Magellan and Captain Cook. Since his retirement from the Royal Navy Menzies has called the leafy north London district of Islington home. 1421- The Year China Discovered the World is Menzies's first published work.
The book, which debunks all previous historical writings and claims that Chinese explorers circumnavigated the globe long before their better known European counterparts, has been at the center of heated debate since it was first published in the UK in November last year.
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