Of junks, history and big bucks

Wow. This looks interesting: ABC TV's Four Corners episode tonight will examine the publishing phenomenon, 1421, a book purporting to reveal the histroical facts of a massive Chinese armada led by Admiral Zheng He that supposedly "circumnavigated the world , discovering Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, and Antarctica".

This is from the blurb on the Four Corners website:

"So was '1421' an eccentric and fluky publishing success? Well no. 'Junk History' tells how Menzies, his agent, his PR company and publisher set out to milk a public thirsty for revisionist history. Menzies hired professional spin-doctors to create hype about a half formed idea. Transworld, which also publishes Dan Brown’s 'Da Vinci Code', paid Menzies, an untested first time writer, a half million pound advance. The book was finished by a team of editors and a ghost writer. Revisionism is big business."

The book sold a million copies. I haven't read it, so I wonder if I'll bother to after tonight. Four Corners is on at 8.30 pm (Mondays), on ABC TV.