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Abstract
Some Books Seem influential because they tell people what they already believe. Others are influential because they change our understanding of history. Jung Chang and Jon Halliday's Mao: The Unknown Story, for example, gives the impression of having been a book of great influence, having racked up very impressive sales figures and glowing reviews in the literary sections of major newspapers. Retired submariner Gavin Menzies' best-seller 1421: The Year China Discovered America, would, if we judge by commercial success alone, appear to have been an even more influential book.