ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My thanks to Mark Chartrand, George W. Ferguson, and Frederic B. Jueneman, who offered invaluable advice and assistance in writing this novel. The technical accuracy of this story is due in large part to their generous assistance; any inaccuracies stem from my stretching the known facts.

Details of the life of Zheng He and the Ming Empire’s “treasure fleet” can be found in Louise Levathe’s fine book, When China Ruled the Seas, published in 1994 by Simon & Schuster.