Inspired by this idea, Menzies spent 15 years studying historical records and old maps and visiting more than 120 countries and more than 900 museums to produce this book, named after the year in which Zheng's sixth voyage began.
此後，孟西士花了十五年的時間，根據史書記載與古地圖標示，拜訪一百二十幾個國家，查考九百多個博物館，寫成這本以鄭和第六次下西洋的年份「1421」為名的書。