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| Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu | 
 enlarge | Author: Laurence Bergreen
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $28.95
Buy New: $15.50
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (23 reviews)
Sales Rank: 33461
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.5
ISBN: 140004345X
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.4
EAN: 9781400043453
ASIN: 140004345X
Publication Date: October 23, 2007
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
As the most celebrated European to explore Asia, Marco Polo was the original global traveler and the earliest bridge between East and West. A universal icon of adventure and discovery, he has inspired six centuries of popular fascination and spurious mythology. Now, from the acclaimed author of Over the Edge of the World: Magellan?s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (?Superb . . . A first-rate historical page turner??The New York Times)?comes the first fully authoritative biography of one of the most enchanting figures in world history. In this masterly work, Marco Polo?s incredible odyssey?along the Silk Road and through all the fantastic circumstances of his life?is chronicled in sumptuous and illuminating detail.
We meet him as a callow young man, the scion of a wealthy Venetian merchant family, only seventeen when he sets out in 1271 with his father and uncle on their journey to Asia. We see him gain the confidence of Kublai Khan, the world?s most feared and powerful leader, and watch him become a trusted diplomat and intelligence agent in the ruler?s inner circle. We are privy to his far-flung adventures on behalf of the Khan, living among the Mongols and other tribes, and traveling to magical cities, some far advanced over the West. We learn the customs of the Khan?s court, both erotic and mercantile, and Polo?s uncanny ability to adapt to them. We follow him on his journey back to Venice, laden with riches, the latest inventions, and twenty-four years? worth of extraordinary tales.
And we see his collaboration with the famed writer Rustichello of Pisa, who immediately saw in Polo the story of a lifetime; enlivened by his genius for observation, Polo?s tales needed little embellishment. Recorded by Rustichello as the two languished as prisoners of war in a Genoese jail, the Travels would explode the notion of non-Europeans as untutored savages and stand as the definitive description of China until the nineteenth century.
Drawing on original sources in more than half a dozen languages, and on his own travels along Polo?s route in China and Mongolia, Bergreen explores the lingering controversies surrounding Polo?s legend, settling age-old questions and testing others for significance. Synthesizing history, biography, and travelogue, this is the timely chronicle of a man who extended the boundaries of human knowledge and imagination. Destined to be the definitive account of its subject for decades to come, Marco Polo takes us on a journey to the limits of history?and beyond.
Amazon.com
Drawing on original writings and walking in the footsteps of Marco Polo himself, Laurence Bergreen's Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu is the most definitive biography of the legendary traveler to date, separating the man from his considerable myth. Look inside Marco Polo (Click on thumbnails to see a larger image):
 |  |  | | Marco Polo: a traditional portrait; Granger | Frontispiece of an early published edition of Marco Polo?s Travels, Nuremberg, Germany, 1477; Granger | Kublai Khan, emperor of the world?s largest land-based empire; Granger |  |  |  | | Marco Polo commanded a Venetian galley similar to this in the Battle of Curzola; Granger | Stone carving on the Marco Polo bridge; Laurence Bergreen | Marco Polo?s vivid and occasionally misinterpreted descriptions of his travels inspired this medieval artist to depict dragons in China; Granger |
Marco Polo timeline (All dates given in the Julian calendar): 1215 - Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan and Marco Polo's mentor, is born. 1254 - Marco Polo born in Venice, although one tradition locates his birthplace in the Venetian colony of Dalmatia. 1260 - Kublai Khan becomes leader of the Mongols and in 1271 founds the Yuan ("Origin") Dynasty. 1271 - Young Marco Polo leaves Venice with his father Niccolo and uncle Maffeo, bound for the court of Kublai Khan. 1274 - Kublai Khan oversees a failed Mongol invasion of Japan, as the Mongols, masters of the Steppe, meet their match at sea. 1275 - The three Polos arrive in Shang-du, Kublai Khan's summer palace immortalized by Samuel Taylor Coleridge as Xanadu; Marco begins his years in the service of the Khan. 1276 - 1293 - Marco travels throughout Asia, reaching the coast of India, and possibly Zanzibar, gathering intelligence for Kublai Khan and serving as a tax collector for the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty. 1281 - Kublai Khan's second failed invasion of Japan, a serious blow to his prestige. 1292 - The Polos escort Princess Kokachin to Persia to marry, their last formal service to Kublai Khan before departing. 1294 - Kublai Khan dies, freeing the Polo family, who undertake a dangerous return voyage by sea. 1295 - Marco, his father, and uncle, arrive in Venice after their 24-year absence. They have been away for so long that their fellow Venetians do not recognize them. 1298 - Marco is captured by the Genoese in the Battle of Curzola, according to some accounts, and confined to a cell in Genoa with a romance writer, Rustichello of Pisa, to whom he dictates his adventures in China, his reminiscences of Kublai Khan, his life among the Mongols. 1300 - Safely back in Venice, Marco Polo marries Donata Badoer; the couple has three daughters. 1324 - As manuscript versions of his exploits spread throughout Europe, Marco Polo dies in Venice, claiming that he did not reveal the half of his experiences in his remarkable Travels.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
Marco Polo's Journeys to the East August 3, 2008
Laurence Bergreen's MARCO POLO: FROM VENICE TO XANDU is one of the foremost biographies written about the Venetian explorer and merchant. Polo opened the doors for the Western world to sail into the Orient. Adapted from Polo's legendary journals, Bergreen revisits early western trade from Constantinople to China to the legendary Silk Road where Polo shared eye-opening observations that westerners may never imagined before, but he also brought back rich spices, silk, and natural remedies that would greatly influence European and Asian trade and culture. In addition, Bergreen uses references to Venetian, European, Asian, and Religious history as a backdrop to his narrative, which is helpful when understanding the entire scope of Polo's journeys.
One of the interesting aspects of Bergreen's interpretation of Polo's enchanting journeys is his account of the meeting with the most powerful and influential individuals in world history. Amazingly, Polo served as a Council to the Mongols, and he reveals the seventeen years in which he lived and experienced the most infamous Mongol Empire of the East. It is not the lackadaisical retelling of the obvious history of invasions, but it is rather the relationship between East and West that was unified when Polo, his father, Niccolo, and brother, Maffeo, served as ambassadors to the West, were in presence of Kublai Khan's, and participated in his high court during China's Yuan Dynasty.
Polo's journals have been considered a romanticized and sensationalized depiction of the East that has been embraced and enticed by many for centuries because of its mythical and folktale quality. However, his journeys are a symbol of early globalization that forged the way for increased trade and diplomacy between two completely different civilizations. During the thirteenth century, Polo unlocked the West's somewhat unknown knowledge of the East, which helped to escalate a better understanding of the world that preceded maritime explorations that would occur in the fifteenth century.
 unsophisticated analysis June 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The subject matter is interesting, but the narrative and analysis are on the level of a high-school report. The text is full of trite phrases and hackneyed expressions, and the author applies a modern-day slant to his assumptions. There is too much "it was as if..." and "he might have...." The illustrations are badly selected and not always relevant. The author uses quotations ineffectively. This book just didn't work for me.
 An exotic jouney to the orient May 7, 2008
What an Excellent Read !!!!!!!!!! history, travelogue, adventure, biography ...................... totally fascinating,
The new revelations on the life, times and travel of Marco, his father and uncle are mind boggling. Based on recent research, it turned out Marco wasn't just a b.s.'ing Venetian after all.
From the great naval battle of Korcula to Marco's final days, this bio/adventure is hard to put down. The history involved, from the "Divine Wind" to Marco's visits to south east asia, india, socotra island .......... history of the great mongol empire, life and times of Kublai Khan, glimpses of the early christian church, voyages, intrepid travellers ....................... it is all here !!
excellent read, rabbie b.
Great material, but flawed delivery May 3, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A thoroughly researched account of a fascinating life. You could spend a lifetime going through the sources in the book's notes & bibliography, and the book inspires you to do just that. However, it's marred by Bergreen's writing style. His comments after quoted material-- and there is, rightly, a LOT of quoted material-- are often superfluous and give the unpleasant impression of reading a book report. A very well-researched book report, but a book report nonetheless. Still, a good launching point to learn more about an intriguing chapter in history.
lost in translation April 13, 2008
Having just read Laurence Bergreen's "Over the edge of the world", I couldn't wait to read his new work on the travels of "Marco Polo" Mr. Bergreen is a stickler for accuracy and research. I think he spends more time researching than writing. This is an excellent account of Marco's adventures and experiences traveling along and beyond The Silk Road. My only criticism is that in trying to be so factual some of the passages were difficult for me to understand. Maybe it is the translation from Medieval Italian to English. As of now, I'm just waiting for Mr. Bergreen's next book.
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