保羅·夏亞鬆（Paul Chiasson）是耶魯大學建築學傢，對宗教建築理論與曆史研究有相當的造詣。他齣生於加拿大的布雷頓角島，是從歐洲前來北美之最早移民的直係後裔。他曾在美國的耶魯大學、美國天主教大學和加拿大的多倫多大學執教。

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In 2003,Paul Chiasson climbed a mountain he never explored on the island wherehe grew up. Cape Breton, one of the oldest points of explorationin the Americas, islittered with remnants of old settlements.The roadhe found that day was unique.Consistently wide and formerlybordered with stone walls, the road had been a major undertaking. For the next two years, he surveyed the history of Europeans in North America, and came to a stunning conclusion: The ruins he came upon did not belong to the Portuguese, French, or English andpre-dated John Cabot's "discovery" of the island in 1497. With aerial and site photographs, maps,drawings and his expertisein the history of architecture, Chiassonpieces together clues to one of the world's great mysteries. The Island of Seven Cities reveals the existence of a large Chinese colony that thrived on Canadian shores well before the European Age of Discovery and unveils the first tangible proof that the Chinese were in the New World before Columbus.