The Travels of Marco Polo - Softcover

Polo, Marco

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1607964716 ISBN 13: 9781607964711

Publisher: www.bnpublishing.net, 2012

Synopsis

Marco Polo was the most famous traveller of his time. His voyages began in 1271 with a visit to China, after which he served the Kubilai Khan on numerous diplomatic missions. On his return to the West, he was made a prisoner of war and met Rustichello of Pisa, with whom he collaborated on this book. The accounts of his travels provide a fascinating glimpse of the different societies he encountered: their religions, customs, ceremonies and way of life; on the spices and silks of the East; on precious gems, exotic vegetation and wild beasts. He tells the story of the holy shoemaker, the wicked caliph and the three kings, among a great many others, evoking a remote and long-vanished world with colour and immediacy. He found himself traversing the most exotic lands-from the dazzling Mongol empire to Tibet and Burma. This fascinating chronicle still serves as the most vivid depiction of the mysterious East in the Middle Ages.

About this title

Review:

Modern scholars have questioned the veracity of Marco Polo's account, but there's no doubt that his description of his travels through the Mongol Empire of the Middle Ages--with its spices, exotic animals, rare jewels and dancing girls--is enchanting. -- Kathleen Keefe

From the Back Cover:

It was perhaps the first book to achieve best-seller status before the invention of the printing press-it was certainly the most controversial. Did Venetian trader and explorer MARCO POLO (1254-1324) actually reach the court of Kublai Khan, serve the emperor as his emissary, and journey the distant lands of Cathay for 17 years, as he relates in his Travels of Marco Polo? The question still hasn't quite been settled today... but whether Polo experienced firsthand the wonders of ancient China, retold tales he heard from Arab travelers along the Silk Road, or simply invented half his stories, this remains a delightful read for fans of history, adventure, and medieval literature.

About this edition

• Publisher: www.bnpublishing.net
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1607964716
• ISBN 13: 9781607964711
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 322